The Use of Your Mouth

Dear lovely people,

Recently, I asked a pertinent question on Facebook “Of what use is a mouth that is not connected to the brain?” The question invites you to reexamine the way you use your mouth and how that affects your quest for personal success.

Descriptively, a mouth that is not connected to the brain says just anything at any time. It is quick to speak before reason is applied and at such it’s often good at undercutting, gossiping, intoxicating and demotivating just to name these few.

Knowing exactly when to open your mouth and when to keep it shut is valuable wisdom. Fact of the matter is, we all sometimes don’t speak up when we should, and do speak when we shouldn’t. But successful people do a lot less of this and know the value, particularly, of keeping quiet.

Do you or know someone who gossips? When you want to say something negative about someone behind their back, don’t. Just don’t. It’s such an energy consuming task and trust me, there is almost never a good reason to gossip. It makes you look petty, childish and spiteful. In most cases, it gets back to the person you’re slandering with twists and turns.

It’s equally true that sometimes someone might do something truly terrible and you might need to discuss it to decide what course of action to take. But this is rare and so it’s really a question of knowing the value added in opening your mouth before you do.

Another main reason not to talk without using your brain is because when you’re talking always, you’re not listening. Listening is the most important thing you can do on your path to success.

Just a few years back, I thought of starting a bakery business and before long, most of my friends knew my detailed plans. The landlord of the house where I planned to lodge the business equally knew the details of my plan and guess what, that business never went beyond the planning phase. The owner of that house today runs a bakery business there.

That’s when I learned that you should set your goals and make your plans, but spend less time talking about them, and more energy actually carrying them out.