I am a talker, I can pretty much talk to anyone, and if I can’t talk to you… well, it’s highly unlikely that it’s me shutting down. When I’m excited about something I will T A L K about it, usually to anyone who will listen.  So when I have a new idea I will talk, talk, talk, talk talk about it!  The issue, of course, is I don’t always follow through with my great ideas and then I have excited friends, family, and … sometimes strangers out there excited about my ideas and asking for status updates to which I have to come up with a response, most of the time I come up with some important sounding reason but really it’s mostly hot air.

Most are familiar with the now infamous balloon boy story; the media was swept away when hearing a young boy was trapped inside a family’s home-made science experiment, a hot air balloon that was now drifting aimlessly through the sky.  They followed the flying saucer like balloon for miles, I even tuned in on a live web link to watch from work as it was finally landing… I almost cried I was so relieved that it came down and that it seemed to be an ideal situation... but then the worst happened the boy wasn’t there. With that the media began launching their own stories and possible scenarios.  Where was he?  Was there a basket attached? The cameras took awhile to find the balloon, what if he fell out… what if he’s hurt or worse.  Searches were being coordinated, everyone was looking for answers.  After a few more hours of frenzy the boy was thankfully found hiding inside the garage attic. What a relief!!!  But then the questions continued, how was it confused that he was in the balloon, didn’t anybody look for him, and on and on and on… At first I admit, I was thinking it’s a kid being a kid – let it go people… Finally the truth came out, it wasn’t a kid being a kid, it was a dad… being strange, making a bunch of hot air into a plan setting up a hoax so that his family would garner attention and hopefully get a reality show.  It’s a strange world we live in. But never the less, that man took his idea from something he just talked about to something he made happen. 

Talk is cheap, there are plenty of sayings that reiterate the point, put your money where your mouth is…  don’t talk the talk if you can’t walk the walk….or one of my favorites… don’t let your mouth write a check your *ahem*…we’ll say -”rear”… can’t cash.  It’s easy to get all excited about plans but it is entirely another to move from talk to action.  It is helpful to talk to others about ideas, to brainstorm… maybe to process through frustration… it’s not a bad thing to talk but we need to know to stop talking and start doing.

There comes a time when we have to tell ourselves to shut up and get to work because when it comes down to it, talk doesn’t matter as much as getting to work.  It doesn’t matter if you could talk circles around me or if you’re words said per day are as minimal as possible, the words have no value until you put pen to paper, or do whatever is necessary to start working on an idea.  You can talk the talk, but can you walk the walk???  Think of all the things you use throughout the day they were once simply other people’s ideas. Imagine how inconvenient life would be without them.  A friend of mine recently created a new iPhone app, I’m so excited to use it, and I’m so proud that he moved forward and didn’t just talk about what he could do some day, he actually did it.  It seems easy to keep talking about things when we just add in a little something like, well someday I’m going to do such and such… you’re letting your words hold you back from moving forward.  “Some days” and “one of these days” will never get you anywhere… When you talk, make a plan, and put the plan to action.  Toby Keith has a song with a great hook that really says it all,

A little less talk if you please

A lot more lovin is what I need

Let’s get on down to the main attraction

            With a little less talk and a lot more action

Remember, if all you ever do is talk about your great ideas, that’s all they will ever be.