Do You "Walk the Talk"

Practice what we preach: having principles may be natural for us but practicing them is something of a different story. This is probably one of our biggest challenges each and every day we breath not only in our lives but in our businesses.

This reminds me of a TV commercial about a young basketball player that announces while in a huddle to his coach that he touched the basketball before it went out of bounds. It was not called by the referee. It's a championship game and the other players don't like it that he tells the truth and they come down on him. The coach on the other hand shows great character by respecting the players honesty and tells him he did the right thing.

If you were this player, what would you have done?

It is not easy to always do what we know to be right and good. That is what makes it a challenge. None of us are perfect human beings. But we know the difference between what is right and what is wrong and inappropriate behavior.

Whether it be in our personal lives or our businesses this is what it takes:

Commitment
Honesty
Accountability
Respect
Attitude
Courage
Trust
Integrity
Responsibility








Believe it matters...

Make sure that your values are consistent with your dreams.

Having values is very important, but it's much more important to live them. "Walking the talk" is always one of our greatest challenges.

Bestselling authors, Eric Harvey and Steve Ventura have written an enlightening book that is filled with inspirational and life changing insights. The book is organized around 5 principles:

1. Words to live by are just words unless you actually live by them.
2. You are what you do.
3. Everything you do counts.
4. The "Golden Rule" is still pure gold.
5. Character is the key.

Are your values consistent with your dreams? What do you need to do to make them consistent?

Having values are important in our lives, but we must learn to LIVE our values, not just keep them hidden in our thoughts afraid to step up to the mound and take a swing. As with the basketball player, others might try to influence you to do something that is not right. You may be criticized by your peers. But, you must walk to the sideline and take the position you know to be right and correct for you according to your values.

In other words, we must learn to "Walk the Talk" in every aspect of our lives. Be it on the job, with our families, in sports, with our faith and in our businesses. Our values cannot be separated into the different segments of our daily lives. Our values are the same no matter what we are doing, where we are or where we are going with our dreams.


Are you Walking the Talk?