Do you remember the expression, “If you want something doing, then do it yourself"? Sometimes however, we adopt an opposite stance, we see things
happening which we feel is wrong and say, “Something should be done about this.” Note – we say "something should be done" and not “I should do something about this.”

There is a story told of a sales representative who attended a regional conference at which they had several guest speakers, who gave advice on a variety of subjects, ranging from how to manage difficult clients, to how to improve your monthly sales figures and impress your boss at the same time. He found the advice on offer both stimulating and interesting and took lots of notes for future reference.

The main speaker of the afternoon session arrived in the hall, mounted the stage and introduced himself. He then puzzled them all by producing a large candle from his briefcase, placing it on a table and lighting it. Some of the delegates wondered if this was to be a display of conjuring to lighten up the afternoon session, but the man looked into the sea of blank faces before him and announced, “Right then, what I want you to do for me, is to make that candle go out.” Everyone sat there trying to make the candle go out, using sheer will power – but the flame burned brightly. “Come on,” he said, “You can’t be trying hard enough.” Then one young man from the back of the hall strode forward, mounted the stage, licked his fingers and simply snuffed the candle out, then without a word, left the stage and returned to his seat.

The speaker smiled and said, “Yes, you can all just sit there and will things to happen, but sometimes it’s no good wishing – you have to get up and do something about it.”

How true this is – action, not words, is what gets things done.