The Less Said The Better
"When you win,
say nothing. When you lose, say less."
- Paul Brown
(1908-1991) Coach
I do not
think anyone would argue the fact that people tend to talk way too much. Seems that we can hear the human voice every
minute of every day. Some of the most
expensive taking is done by those who are looking to achieve something in their
life. Why is that more expensive? Because you can talk or you can do; you
cannot do both. As Walt Disney said,
"The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing."
I read once that when we spend
time talking about what we are "going
to do" that each word equals seven steps in the process of
achievement. I don't know if that is
true, but I do know that when people talk about what they are "going to do" they seldom do
it. And that is a fact.
I would like to point out four
times when the less you say is better.
However, understand that there is an exchange here on every count. Talking less does not automatically cause more
action. Just as you must purposely talk
less, you must purposely do more. Action
is always deliberate and will not happen on its own. As the old saying goes, "Success is
never the result of spontaneous combustion, you must set yourself on
fire."
1) Talk Less When Setting Your
Goals
Several years ago I did a
workshop on goal setting at a local church for their leadership. There was a young man there who was excited
to attend. "I have always wanted to
set goals", he said, "but I just could never get started." All during the workshop he constantly had
questions and statements to make. During
breaks and after we were done he was telling everyone of all the things he was
going to do and how he would use the information he was taught. About a year or so later I came across this
fellow again at another event. I asked
him how his goal setting worked. "I
really haven't done it yet," he said, "but I will and it will be
great." I would be safe in saying
that if I saw him today, I would hear the same report again.
Setting goals is really a very
personal matter. Of course I am talking
of personal goals not team goals. Your
goals are the things you want to achieve in a set period of time. The most important thing is that they are
yours, not someone else's. Once you
bring your goals up for discussion, someone will add their two cents and then
someone else will tell you their thoughts and before you know it, you have
allowed them to set all your goals for your life.
2) Talk Less When Discussing Your
Dreams
This is most important when you
are still discovering what your dreams are.
This is the time to think about what you want and where you are going in
life. Dreams should be big, impossible
and scary, but they should not be shared.
I have heard some teachers of
success say that you should tell others your dreams so that you can be held
accountable. I disagree. For one, if you are ever going to achieve the
impossible, you have got to be grown up enough to hold yourself
accountable. Second, the bigger and more
impossible your dream the more others will do their best to talk you out of
it. Not because they want to hurt you or
hold you back (however, that can happen too), but because they love you and are
worried that you may get hurt, disappointed or fail. The fact is, you will get hurt, disappointed
and fail - perhaps many times - but that is all part of the achievement of
success. Do not allow other, even out of
love, to rob you of your dream out of their fears.
3) Talk Less When Creating Your
Plan
Just as you know what you want
to do, you also have to know how to get there.
In creating a plan for achievement you must be wise about what advice to
take. Do not seek advice or direction
from someone who does not believe you will even achieve the dream in the first
place. Find those who, although they may
not believe in the dream, they do believe in you. They can give you help and direction that
will move you forward.
The next place to look for
advice in forming a plan for achievement is in books and material by people who
understand and pursue success. Talk with
people who have achieved the very thing you desire to achieve and listen to the
problems they faced and the answers they found.
This will be a great help to you and you plan your course of action.
4) Talk Less When You Have
Achieved Your Goal
Success is great! You become so excited that you have achieved
your goals and are starting to live your dreams. One of the first things you want to do is to
go back to all those who said you could not do it and say "See! I told you I could do it!" Don't do that. For one, it will lessen your victory if the
only thing you got from it was revenge.
Also, no one gains from a braggart.
Truly success-minded people understand that there is more power in being
humble and quiet that showing off to those who really don't care anyway.
Here is the very best way to
celebrate a victory of achieving a goal.
Be happy, smile and enjoy the moment, then find a new goal and get
started. The greatest enemy to success
is success. When we achieve it is easy
to think we did it and now we are done.
You are not done till you are dead.
If you still have life you still have goals to achieve and dreams to
follow. You will find that when you see
achievement as stepping stones and not a destination you will find excitement
in life and always on the road to something greater than before.
To discover how you can achieve the dream you have believed was
impossible for too long, read On The
Journey To Achievement by John Patrick Hickey. You can get a signed copy for yourself and
get one for a friend, by going to http://www.johnpatrickhickey.com/it-is-good-to-set-goals-better-to-achieve-then/.
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