SHOW, DON’T TELL

WEEK OF 7/20/2026

 

Prior to my career as a full time punching bag, janitor, and amateur therapist, I enrolled in an English Education degree from Ithaca College.  I maintained excellent grades to keep my scholarship alive and graduated with honors (inducted into the national honors fraternity Sigma Tau Delta along with Magna Cum Laude).  I don’t speak much about my academic background but it’s something I’m really proud of.  And I credit so much of my academic success to my high school English teacher, Mr. Topper, who inspired me to pursue a career in that field.  We had a few rules in our writing: use active language (i.e. “he ran” vs. “he was running”), cut out any unnecessary fluff, and show, don’t tell.  That is to say, use language to shape and describe the scene.  Don’t just lay it on the reader with a lot of direct exposition.

The same applies to combat sports.  When it comes to setting goals, or leveraging our social media, we love to talk about all the things we will do.  But in my 20+ years of training and coaching, the people who talk the most about what they’re going to do usually get the least amount done.  The people you would be trying to impress can smell the BS from a mile away, anyway!

There’s nothing wrong with setting goals — and in manifesting them, you often have to speak them into existence.  But setting goals is easy.  It takes no effort and it costs nothing.

Achieving goals is hard.  It takes time, effort, sacrifice, energy.. you name it.  Achievement has a cost attached to it.  And anything worth having will never come cheap.

So show, don’t tell.  Demonstrate your discipline, work ethic, and grit through accomplishment.  The people we admire the most are the ones who achieve the most, not the ones who talk the most.  Get to work!