Don’t tell me what you will do – show me what you’ve done.
Talk is cheap, but money buys the whiskey. I’m tired of tired old promises from people who can’t even trust themselves.
So I want to suggest to you that you start doing what I have started doing: When people promise stuff, and you know they are good at making promises, but seldom deliver or always deliver late (in many cases a subconscious need for control, due to a poor self image), simply say,
“Don’t promise what you will do – just tell me when you’ve done it.”
Promises are a Red Flag
Just as you have learned not to trust the posers, parasites, and pundits who spew licentious lies from their podiums and pulpits, so you should begin to doubt the pageantry, prevarications, promises and pledges paraded out by schlemiels that have no intention of fulfilling them, let alone the ability to do so.
Follow This Rule of Thumb
It’s time to move from hopeful, blind, childish naivety to mature, reasonable skepticism until someone proves themselves, and we should take note of their track records. I know people that regularly promise things that I have no expectation of ever seeing, because they have proven to me over time that they don’t deliver, or that they are always late. I feel like taking them to a tattoo studio and having a large “L” for Loser tattooed onto their foreheads, to save other people time and disappointment.
I have one particular fool who promised to put a system in place in August, and he still hasn’t delivered. I will never trust this specimen in any business deal or refer him any business. Mostly, I remove these types from my life – I scrape them off my shoes.
Take Heart. There are Some Winners.
The good news is that there are a few winners out there (3% of the population) who actually do deliver on time, and they are few and far between. Work with them, trust them, and carefully foster those relationships.
Believe and pay for RESULTS, not promises.
A healthy dose of skepticism is in order until people prove themselves. Until then, don’t allow yourself to be set up. Focus on the producers.