Say what you mean, do what you say.

Have you ever heard the expression, “Say what you mean and mean what you say.”? Of course you have. If you really look at that phrase, you see the truth it has. Sometimes, I say things I don’t mean and fail to do things that I meant to do. My intentions in these situations are irrelevant. What you do is what matters because it’s what people see and hear that they will remember. Not what I meant to do.

There is no in-between. I either do what I say I was going to do, or according the other 7 billion people in the world who aren’t in my head,  I do nothing. I have been the guy who talked about all the things he wanted to do. All the ideas I had. People can take you at your word in two different ways:

1) If you say you’ll do it then they know it’s done.

2) If you say you’ll do it then they know it will never happen.

I’m interested in the former. Gone are they days of endless-idea-haver-never-gonna-do-anything-about-it guy. Because you know the best way to get people to hate your idea? Never do anything about it. So if you’ve asked me why I pour cold water over my head outside in the below freezing weather? It’s because I said I would. Because I’m working to make that a strong value in my life: Integrity.

Integrity is: Doing what you said you would do, when you said you would do it, and how you said you would do it.
–Byrd Baggett

I challenge you (and me) to explore this in your day today. Be intentional about sharing your ideas. If you say you’ll do it, then start today.

Say what you mean and do what you say.

Happy Friday! Make stuff this weekend!