Jonathon became a man of action. He started with little tasks and stayed in motion, and soon he found he was accomplishing things he never thought possible. He even built a workroom onto his house where he could follow his dream of woodworking.

When Jonathon’s wife entered his newly-finished workshop, she gasped as she gazed around. She had always known he was quite an artist when it came to woodworking, but she had no idea he had the gumption to follow through with something like this. Jonathon started many projects in the past, but he finished very few. Just months prior, she had been badgering him to get his unfinished woodblocks off of her craft table in the basement.

“This is beautiful!” She smiled.

Jonathon hiked up his pants and looked around, busting with pride. “Yep, I thought I would start off by building you a birdhouse; then I’m going to re-do all of the cabinets in the kitchen; next, I think I’ll design and build an entertainment center for the living room . . .”

Your assignment today is to continue to be a person of action. Don’t interrupt your efforts with talk. Get back to work.

DAY

40

“A superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.”

 — Confucius

Jonathon’s wife in yesterday’s story was at first impressed by his new workshop, but then she became immediately skeptical of his actions when he started to talk big about his future plans. At that point, she had only seen him carry out one project to completion. She didn’t have much evidence to suggest he would finish all of the other schemes he boasted about.

You must remember to be modest in speech even when you start to become a person of action. You will want to talk about what you’ve done, because you’re happy about your accomplishments. You are proud that you made a very important change in your life. That is a great triumph! But avoid the temptation to talk about what you’ve done. Pile up more actions instead to build your success.