Do You Practice What You Preach?

27 Replies

Have you ever told someone to do something that you would never do yourself? Gandhi hasn’t:

A woman once came to Gandhi and asked him to please tell her son to give up eating sugar. Gandhi asked the woman to bring the boy back in a week. Exactly one week later the woman returned, and Gandhi said to the boy, “Please give up eating sugar.” The woman thanked the Mahatma, and, as she turned to go, asked him why he had not said those words a week ago.”Gandhi replied, “Because a week ago, I had not given up eating sugar.”

-Catherine Ingram

The message from this story is quite simple, practice what you preach. What’s interesting to know is that there are thousands of blogs out there that teach personal development, yet only a select few that actually give sound advice. The reason behind that is that it’s simple to read information and rewrite it. I can study everything there is to know about being a doctor, but if I don’t actually work at a doctor’s office, would you let me operate on you? I know I wouldn’t :).

You, like almost everyone reading this probably has an interest in becoming a better person, being successful, or just t0 learn to do more good faster. Whatever the reason is for you visiting this site, it has to do with communicating with other people. The closer you are to mirroring whatever the message is that your communicating, the more powerful the message will come across. Like Gandhi, he wasn’t able to tell the woman’s son because he didn’t give up sugar himself. After he did it himself, he was able to tell the boy with more conviction and power. His message had a ‘backbone’ to it.

Practice what you preach

All of the strategies that I teach, share, and explain to you have been something I’ve done before or am currently doing right now.  If you’ve ever met me in person, I can talk for hours on end on almost everything related to personal development and self-help. I am TRULY interested in becoming an overall powerful human being capable of understanding fellow human beings with the ability to uplift them to also become powerful.

So, if you’re on the web searching for ideas, like right now being on persuasive.net, here’s the trick to practice what you preach:

Learn something, read it, get it taught to you, or do whatever to get it in your head and then instantly APPLY IT! DO IT! Yes it’s that simple 😉 Gandhi decided to cut sugar that same day the woman asked for him to give her son the message.

Do you practice what you preach? What exactly do you preach, and how do you practice it?

27 thoughts on “Do You Practice What You Preach?”

  1. tom

    Excellent article AJ.

    I personally look at other blogs and think to myself, you are just writing this shit down for the sake of it, not because you actually want to make a difference.

    Same with business, people start businesses for the sake of doing it because everyone else is doing it.

    Better yet, i came across two blogs today that talk about top professions or businesses for 2008 and i see people recommending this and that business.

    I swear, i held back from literally verbally assaulting that person.
    If you are so smart to recommend this, go do it yourself and shut your trap. Then when you fail or succeed, tell us about it.

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  2. Sushil Mayer

    Isn’t the whole brilliance of a good salesman suppose to be that they can “sell” anything they want (believe or not).

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    1. AJ Kumar Post author

      I personally think one should only sell something they believe in. However, what I was referring to in this article is teaching, coaching, or giving advice to.

      Does that make sense?

      Reply ↓
      1. tom

        Agreed, if someone asks probing questions, you can end up in a rough spot with nothing to really say.
        Then again, if its something like a travel agency, then it gets a bit difficult.

        anymore thoughts?

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    2. Alex Murphy

      In my humble opinion, Great Sales people gravitate towards products that they have 100% belief in and sell from the heart, engender trust, and build a relationship. There is a different name that is attached to people that sell products and/or services that they do not believe in.

      Reply ↓
  3. Harnish

    I practice the art of simplicity in usability. I practice this in my day job and advice all my clients the same. In this way I am able to convince them that simple easy to use is always the best for mass consumption of interactive media.

    Reply ↓
  4. Angel

    I’m a new subscriber. You have an excellent blog. The few articles I’ve read so far have help me greatly. I’m looking forward to reading more of your articles. Keep up the good work. Thanks!

    Reply ↓
  5. Rat Race Trap

    Sometimes I intellectually know something and actually believe it, but I haven’t put it into practice. I give advice that I believe to be good advice whether I have the discipline or personality to follow that same advice or not. Sometimes advice is suited to the one being advised. One example – I might give a female friend advice that I don’t practice myself.

    Reply ↓
    1. AJ Kumar Post author

      I’m very glad you brought that up. What I want to express is that when you do practice what you preach, you are able to explain or tell someone what ever it is your trying to convey with more power and conviction.

      You make a very valid point on the difference of friendly or intellectual advice.

      Reply ↓
      1. tom

        Its not even that, its dumb to tell someone to do this or that while you’re doing something completely different or they don’t give you a concrete reason.

        Why don’t you start real estate investing, when the person asking is working a job, does it make sense?
        Even if the person asking is in real estate, you still should question why he is suggesting this to you.

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      1. Gerardo

        Hi I am just practicing with a first wtsbiee and have used this code (thanks) and it works great except I get the same code error as Eilia and Israel when one first goes into the Members page (when no filter is applied to the search). Did you resolve this? I don’t get the error anywhere else, and I don’t care about it on that filter, as such, but obviously as a novice I have no clue how to remove the error message. Hope you can spare 5 mins to help. thanks

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  8. Silvia

    I totally share your idea of practicing what you preach,I think the talk/it might take the form of a plan or desires-something you want to get/ and the action/something you need waste-efforts,energy and time/ are two sides of one medal,or one processGTD/getting things done/.To say it another way-giving before receiving.

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  9. Alexis

    I have noticed you have an unbelievable force because you respond to each and every comment posted by all of your blog readers, Kumar!!
    Actually, you practice what you preach…you are so powerful in networking with people.
    Your blog has become one of my daily meals

    Thanks

    Reply ↓

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