While in school some years back, there were two students I knew. The two of them wished to have academic success. In fact, they always talked about it. But it was just one of them that had a study routine, he would read at least one hour every night, he would go to the library on weekends, drafted his own personal reading timetable, and followed it. The other student would follow her friends for party, go for hangout, pass away time, and all that. It is true that both of them desired academic success, but just one of them put in actions. By the end of the session, the student who put in action, passed excellently well, while the other student was far back. This goes to show that actions are what produce results not intentions.
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Everyone has good intentions. People have dreams, they create incredible ideas, plans, and even talk about the kind of things that they want to achieve. They promise themselves to work hard to become better, or to even create some changes. But what they need to understand is that intention alone does not create results. You have to understand that what really defines you is not what you want to do, but what you have actually done. No matter how loud your intentions might be, your actions will always be louder than it.
It is actually easy to have intentions. For example, it is not difficult to say "I will start this tomorrow," or to say "I will improve on myself and become better." But this is not what will bring the results, but your actions will. Actions require discipline, commitment, and even consistency. This is why some people fall short in it. You will see someone remain in the stage of talking and planning, yet they have not moved to take steps or executing their plans. As a result, their life will remain as it is. What makes the difference is not what you have planned, but how you have converted the thoughts and the plans into actions.
Imagine a farmer always talking about having a big harvest. And even imagine himself building a large barn to accommodate his large harvest, yet he has not taken any step to plant a single seed. How will he have any harvest at all, talk more of having a big one? After wishing and hoping for harvest, he will then have to put in the actions to plant the seed. In the same way in life, what is rewarded, and what brings the result is the action. As a matter of fact, nothing proves that you are ready for results like the actions you have put into your dreams.
It is worthy to note that actions are the proof of your seriousness. If you truly and sincerely want something, it will reflect on what you do daily. For example, if you want success, your actions will show for it. If you want growth, your actions will show efforts, learning, and consistency. If you want to secure a good tomorrow, then your actions will show discipline. Intentions only have meaning when you back them up with actions, otherwise they will become empty. Someone who has a brilliant idea of what to do and end up not doing it, is not different from the person who does not have any idea at all.
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You also need to know that actions also bring credibility. People will not judge you by what you have in mind, nor by your words, but they will judge you by your behaviour and by your actions. You may have great ideas, or even make very strong promises, but if your actions do not match them, trust might be broken. On the other hand, if you keep to your words and to your promises, and then follow them up with actions, you will build trust and respect. If people see that you will always do what you say, they will take you seriously, and they will have trust and respect for you.
Your actions also reveal your priorities. What you do with your time, and where you channel your energy and resources will say a lot about what matters to you. You may have a goal or a dream, and you may say that it is important to you, but it is your daily activities that will reflect if it is important to you or not.
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