Are You a "Doer" or a "Sayer?"

At the family Christmas party, word got around that I am close to publishing a book. One by one, family members came to me and were genuinely interested (very nice support, by the way). One family member heard about it and said, "You know I always thought I should do that. You know, just give my general views on life."
Not a noteworthy response, except that's the way this particular person always responds to news of someone else's accomplishments -- It's something he could do, it's something he has the background to do, it's something that he always intended to do. Except he never does it.
My life improved a lot when I went from being a "doer" to a "sayer." One way I licked that problem was to write out my goals every year and determine to fulfill them. Over the last ten years or so, here are some things I accomplished:

• Got my MBA near age 50 and gave the commencement address
• Learned the Italian language, then...
• I used my Italian to converse with my relatives at their homes in Italy
• Doubled my salary
• Learned to sing
• Sang in Carnegie Hall (That aforementioned relative also sings, but I have sung in more and bigger venues even though I started singing about 35 years later than he did)
• Won four District championships from Toastmasters
  
• Reached the semi-finals of Toastmasters International's World Championship of Public Speaking
• Wrote my first book on how to recognize and deal with change, which will be published in a few weeks.

My good friend Shawn Doyle just wrote in his blog, Foundations of Motivation, that he "feels great," because he just wrote his objectives for the year. In addition to being a successful public speaker, Shawn has published ten books of his own, both in the U.S. and internationally. No slacker there; Shawn is a doer, not a sayer.
So I advise you to sit down and think of the things you want to do this year. Make only one list of ten items or less, as that will make the list achievable. Then post it in a prominent place and make them your priority. You have to mow the lawn? Hire some kid in the neighborhood as I did, and work on those priorities. Have a favorite TV show? Kick the habit, and stop watching it. Instead, use that time work on your priorities. (Perhaps you can record the show and watch it in your "down" time, after you have relaxed and are regrouping from all you have accomplished.)
I don't know about you, but I'm not getting any younger, and unless you're Benjamin Button, neither are you. So get going. If you're going to be a sayer in this world, at least be sayin' all that you're doin', not the things you could be doin'.