“Do you practice what you preach? Are you a
model - an exemplification of what you teach?”
This post is not geared towards being a form of attack towards anybody, but if you're hit by stray bullets, I'm sorry. 😅
The purpose is to rather make us, as individuals, better informed.
With that being said, lets get on right to the subject.
In this life, no matter who you are or what level you are, there are those who look up to you as someone that is ahead and could possibly gain something from either now or some day.
We may not have millions of followers on Instagram or Twitter but we're all influencers, no matter how small our circle of influence is. In accordance with this fact, we are saddled with the responsibility of making sure our followers are not led astray.
There's a saying that says a blind man cannot lead a blind man, they'll both get lost. You cannot lead or teach people if you yourself have not been well grounded.
It is quite unfortunate that many have been led astray in their various endeavours due to the fact that those they choosed as their guides had not been well grounded.
These days, there are lots of masterclasses flying around.
Assuming for some reason you're a leader in a religious gathering. You preached against offense in your religion assembly and then you got home. Then boom!!! 6 hours later there is this close pal of yours you have been looking up to for something and the person is not replying your message on time. Immediately you start to pick offense just because the reply to your chats are delayed. Lol... All the fruits of the spirit are well oiled in you until that person stirs the waters.
You're a "do as I say" man, not "do as I do" tutor. This might sound funny, but the nemesis that comes with this for anyone who does such is that you're misleading your followers.
Suppose after your first degree in school you're getting a bit pudgy around your body and decide
it's high time you got back in shape. You enroll in a community fitness class called
“Healthy Food & Nut: Eat Your Way to a Beautiful Body.”
On the first day of class, you arrive early, seat yourself, and watchfully await the
class instructor. After a few minutes, an obese man walks into the room and
waddles to the front of the room. Surprisingly you think, Wow, he's fat . . . but good for him he's here to
change that! As the man profusely sweats while fumbling with
a stack of papers, you glance at the student chair near the man and wonder if he can fit on it … he's twice the size of the chair!
Then suddenly you're hit with the paradox.
This isn't a student but the instructor himself! Are you freaking kidding me? How can
this fat man effectively teach a class called “Healthy Food & Nut: Eat Your Way to a
Beautiful Body” when he is not a model of his teaching. How can anyone take
him seriously? Bewildered at such hypocrisy, you leave the class in a haste and head to the
bursar's office, intent on getting a tuition refund with immediate effects.
When it comes to some gurus, leaders, politicians, teachers and financial advisers etc. this is what you must do: leave the
class and request a refund immediately because they're guilty of the Paradox of Practice. If you cannot do what you say. Or put together practice what you preach, then you are not worthy to be a frontier.
Another common one is the so called self made gurus in trading and finance. Go buy this pair, hold that coin. Do this or that. In reality they do none of them. Then come out in open to show some winning trades (claiming) they have applied the principles they teach to get such wins.
I think the three scenerio has been completed. Are you a do as I say or a do as I do preacher?
