Shut Up…You Talk Too Much!

Shutting up never hurt anyone, in fact we often spend too much time talking about what we are going to do instead of actually doing it. Stop running your mouth and put some action behind your words! Procrastination is a thief to valuable time, and just like the great philosopher Sweet Brown once said, “Ain’t nobody got time fa dat!”

People who talk a lot about what they are going to do, but never do it are called Imma do’s. We all know them. They say Imma do this and Imma do that, but in actuality they aren’t doing jack shit. My first encounter with an Imma do was my father. After my parents divorced, he would make promises that he didn’t plan to keep. His intentions might have been good, but his delivery sucked. I was about 8 or 9 years old when my mother would comb my hair and get me all dressed up to sit and wait, and wait and wait and eventually I’d fall asleep waiting on my father to make good on his promises. By the third no show, my mother put an end to the Imma do nonsense. From that point on, I didn’t see my dad again until I decided to reach out to him on my own; I was 26. That experience probably hardened me a bit, but it taught me a valuable lesson. I learned that talk is cheap and actions speak way louder than words. I have a very low tolerance for bullshitters. It burns me up when people say they can do something or will do something and they don’t.

These days people will tell you anything to get what they want from you. That’s why it’s so important to do less talking and more listening to figure out a person’s real intentions especially when dealing with matters of the heart. Your heart wants to love, trust and believe the words that are coming out of the person’s mouth that claims to love you. But if those words are not aligning with their actions it’s just all talk. If you’re in a relationship with a person and they tell you that they want to marry you, but they don’t buy a ring or set a date, the harsh reality is they don’t want to marry you. Likewise, if you’re already married and your spouse tells you that they want to remain married, but keeps doing stuff to destroy the marriage. It’s the same with the job that keeps passing you over for that promotion, but tells you that your next in line for it. In all of these scenarios the bottom line is they have no future plans for you so you must make your own.

Talking about your plans aren’t enough though. You actually have to put in the sweat equity to bring them to fruition or else it’s just a dream. Praying about your plans aren’t enough either for without work it’s dead. When I was a teenager and wanted to go out with my friends my mother made me come up with a plan to make that happen. I had to know all of the specifics before I brought it to her. She needed to know where I wanted to go, what time the event started, how much it cost, with whom I was going, how I planned on getting there, what time it was over and how I was getting back home. She also needed to know if my plans would inconvenience her. If any of these questions could not be answered she gave me a firm no. As an adult, I realize how important it is that I was taught these life skills. I’ve never been a person to just go with the flow. I need order and structure in my life. Does coming up with a plan and executing it prevent failure? Hell no, but it does create a road map that’ll push you towards making things happen.

Many of us are waiting for the right time, the right financial situation or the right opportunity to make a move towards our goals. Guess what? The right time might not ever come. You are going to have to make some uncomfortable decisions to get to living your best life. Fear of the unknown can be crippling. We tend to ask ourselves “what if I fail?” …But what if you succeed? The only limitations that you’ll have are the ones that you put on yourself. You can keep talking about what you’re going to do and hope that it happens for you or you can just do it, but you can’t do both.