Action

Do you ever council a friend, have them then compliment and thank you for the advice or tutelage, and then watch them walk away while you think to yourself, “why don’t I do that?”.  It doesn’t matter who you are, walking the talk is not easy.  It’s so much easier to give advice, then to follow it.  

Coaches, priests, teachers, mentors face this same challenge.  Wrong choices, taking shortcuts, not showing up…these things don’t discriminate among us. We all face this, its called life. With that said, most of us don’t see ourselves coming up short. That lies the biggest problem. Our natural tendency is to look at ourselves through a different lens than the one we use to look at others (subconsciously for most).

We often judge oursleves by our intentions, but judge others by their actions.

Are you guilty of this? I know if I am truly honest with myself, I can see this in my life. I am not as great as I think I am. That’s for sure. We can all likely be better on both sides of the above italicized statement…we can judge less while also holding ourselves to a higher standard.  Remember, others actions don’t always equate to their initial intentions as well.  Be more forgiving, for they are no different than you and I.

Judging yourself based on your actions, rather than your intentions, can drastically change your life for the better. I think you will find it brings you more humility. You’ll have awareness of your shortcomings, you’ll suddenly see the gap between your intentions and actual actions. 

If you truly want to change your life and yourself, its about action. There are no shortcuts. You cannot just think yourself into greatness or change. 

I learned this first hand – You can’t think yourself into a new way of living. You must live your way into a new way of thinking.