Intentions vs Actions

"The purpose of life is not to be happy, it is to be useful, to be compassionate,

to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well."

RALPH WALDO EMERSON

As a leader, there are certain things you do every day and others you put off or omit altogether. We all have good intentions most times, we just don’t follow through. I’ve found that as I’ve grown as a leader, I’ve regularly had to change how I think, how I lead, what I say, when I say it, to whom I say it and how quickly I do what I say.

Fortunately, there are KNOCKS you can GET along the way that will help you get BETTER FASTER at SAYING followed by DOING. I have discovered some things you can easily banish or begin doing as soon as today. DOING them will most likely give you immediate satisfaction.

Here's a word to parents and adults in general: Our children, first and foremost, aren’t going to remember our intentions. Neither will your spouse, nor friends and family. Most importantly, our church will very quickly forget what we say if what we say is not followed-up with action! The people who are closest to us will quickly disregard what we SAY if what you do doesn't follow close behind your saying.

People with good intentions want to add value to others but find reasons to delay doing so. People of actions want to add value to others and find ways to do so. People with good intentions can be passive, inconsistent, and disappointing. People with quick actions find ways to be deliberate, consistent, and willful.

We can rest assured that LEGACIES never get built on INTENTIONS but ACTIONS. People with "good intentions" want to add value to others but find reasons to put-off and usually end up doing nothing. Let me just reminds us of a few challenges between intentions and actions: Life isn't going to go the way we expect it to all the time. We are going to have to contend with our good and bad intentions, deal with good and bad people, struggle with circumstances that don't always meet our expectations.

As I bring this blog to a close, I must remind you and myself, what matters even more than OUR actions are the CONSEQUENCES of our actions. This means that intentions do matter, but only insofar as they cause you to engage in actions that make your life and the lives of people around you better. Everything we think, say, and do has consequences for ourselves.

Most times our "saying" brings either negative or positive consequences to whomever receives them. Like ripples on a pond, our actions spread out and affect others because everything is interconnected. We need to remember that OUR ACTIONS ARE IRREVERSIBLE. CONSEQUENCES are where our thoughts and actions meet reality. FINAL WORDS...

“Watch your thoughts, they become words; Watch your words, they become actions; Watch your actions, they become habits; Watch your habits, they become character; Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.”

FRANK OUTLAW