…twice this week, whilst on coaching calls to clients, I found myself sharing personal experiences as I show up being vulnerable and as authentic as possible during my sessions. Each time, I was sharing my own truths to make the point that not only do I coach others, but also that I hold myself accountable and walk my talk.
Only recently, when I wasn’t feeling too well, I took my own advice. I walked my talk. I did all the things I know how to do to get well again and then when I wasn’t able to fully recover, I turned to other healers and trusted in their expertise.
I’ve also had a couple of painful experiences recently, having come to a ‘lockdown realisation’ that I want to simplify my life and enjoy doing less but love doing each of the things I do more. That necessitated me saying no several times. Saying no to some events, to some actions and even to some people that do not fit with my values and that don’t enable me to ‘walk my talk’.
So how do you walk your talk?
There is a great quote by John C. Maxwell, which is;
“Your talk talks and your walk talks,
But your walk talks louder than your talk talks”
In other words:
Don’t talk > instead act.
Don’t say > instead show.
Don’t promise and instead > prove.
Are you talking a good game and not following through with actions?
How are you showing up?
How are you setting a good example to others instead of talking about it?
Finally, how are you proving that you are true to your word and willing to do what you say you’re going to do?
It’s really about living your truth. This is emotionally, spiritually and psychologically important.
No one likes living a lie and lying to yourself or being incongruent with what you say and then acting differently is the most uncomfortable place to be. It creates a disharmony at the very core of your being.
As Shakespeare so rightly advises: “to thine own self be true”. You need to do this for good health.
Please take a moment and be really honest with yourself. Listen to your inner voice. Tap into what you know (at the heart of your being) is right and you will gain strength and a growing sense of being whole.
Even when things are hard and you’re having to walk a difficult path, and often we have to, you will feel more at one with yourself by trusting this inner voice. What’s more, others will look to you and see that the path that you’re walking is yours and it is true to your values and vision. This way you will be living in integrity. You’ll be walking your talk and walking your own authentic walk.
I’ve had to do this many times and sometimes the path is hard and you feel like you are in survival mode. Yet the more you discover and walk your own path, the stronger you get.
So I’m sharing this with you now as I’m sure that none of us have seen the last of difficult roads we need to walk for the foreseeable future.
However rough the terrain becomes, there is a way of choosing the right path. On mountain paths, walkers leave Cairn stones at the side of the safest routes to guide other walkers who will come after them. Your inner truth, your values and walking your talk are your Cairn stones.
Follow them to safety.
I mentioned in my advice above about Cairn stones and how they are used as a guide by mountain walkers to lead the way for those that come after them, and I realised that coincidentally, my own bestselling book, ‘Reset! A Blueprint for a Better Life’, features a pile of cairn stones on the cover!
The book will guide you to discover and follow your own cairn stones – your values, your inner truth and the things that matter most to you. You can purchase a signed copy for yourself or a loved one via my brand new bookshop, here.