Are you walking the walk or just talking the talk?

Are you walking the walk or just talking the talk?

We’ve all heard the saying “actions speak louder than words”, right?  I think the reality is it is very easy to talk, talk, talk but not as easy to back up what you say with actions.  How many times do you read a really good book about self-improvement or business building and then “talk” about everything you are “going” to do? Maybe you’ve even gone out there and started telling others you can help them because you now have the knowledge to do so? 

I’m not mocking you!  Quite the contrary, for me it is a “been there, done that” sort of thing!  Yes, guilty as charged.  I’ve done it and while I should be embarrassed to admit it, I’m not.  Here is why… I’ve found every experience brings me lessons I need to learn.  Part of learning how to “walk the walk” includes making mistakes along the way.  If you learn from those mistakes you have to consider them a blessing because the fact is, they make you a better person.  Now, if you ignore the lessons….. shame on you!  If you have to repeat the same lesson a few times, so what?  The important thing is that eventually do learn and you take that lesson forward with you in life.  It really is win/win type of thing.  You mess up, you learn, you improve, you move forward.  

Never a loss, always a lesson!

Lessons bring opportunity and we need to always welcome opportunity.  It might be as simple as the opportunity to say you are sorry for something you’ve done, it might be the opportunity to truly change your life or someone else’s but there is always an opportunity presented with lessons.  You just have to slow down and recognize it. 

One of the hardest lessons for me was consistency.  I used to be one of those marketers that went totally nuts in one day and worked my tail off on that one day.  Then I would be disappointed that I didn’t see the results from my work that I wanted.  Seriously, it took me forever to finally learn that doing a couple of things very consistently would yield better results. It wasn’t that no one told me; it was that I didn’t listen.  I didn’t learn the lesson presented to me.  I was moving too fast to slow down and recognize the lesson I needed to learn.  Maybe you’ve done the same thing?  Maybe you are doing it today?  If so, slow down!  Take baby steps, take them consistently and you’ll soon see the results you are working for. 

Don’t believe me?  Let’s do some simple math!  If you spend one day per week just going crazy and talk to let’s say 10 people one day per week you will have spoken to 520 people at the end of the year.  But, if you were to slow down and consistently talk to just 2 people every day?  730 people!  It is all about consistency and let’s face it anyone can manage 2 people per day!  Now, if only 1% of those people joined your business or purchased your product that would be 7.3 people.  Drop the .3 and let’s take it further.   Let’s say you teach those 7 people to do just what you did and they teach the same.  Yes, I’m talking about duplicating and you always want to duplicate your efforts!  I’m not going to give you the answers here but I want you to figure them out for yourself!  You started with just 7, you taught them to do what you did and told them to teach it to their 7.  At the end of 5 years what would your team look like?  Would it be worth the effort that it took to just talk to 2 people a day?  I’m betting the answer is yes. 

You see it really isn’t about working yourself to the point your family forgets what you look like!  It is about habit.  It is about developing good habits that will help you create the life you want for you and for your family.  Develop the right habits and you create the life you want! 

©2012