We humans are funny creatures. We are able to have thoughts, put them into words, and then speak them to others…

…sometimes.

I have always been amazed (and not in a good way) by people in my life who fail to communicate. No, I do not mean that they said something, but did not say it well. I do not mean that they stuttered, or that they mumbled. I mean they DID NOT SPEAK AT ALL about a subject – and then they were shocked by the result. Here are a couple of examples.

Years ago I became a network marketing distributor with one of the legendary companies in the world. It actually was my second time to work with that company. I was awful at it the first time, but I had matured a lot in the years in between, and I wanted to give it another shot.

When I sat down with my sponsor named Barry (who was a medical doctor at the time), we talked about my list of prospects. He asked me who was the sharpest person on the list. I did not hesitate to mention my friend Tommy who had moved to Atlanta. We proceeded to call him to see if he might be interested in checking out our business opportunity.

After I spoke with Tommy briefly, I passed the phone to Barry, as he was modeling for me how to do a phone call to a prospect. Tommy immediately recognized this approach, as he was already in the same business with a different sponsor.

When Barry discovered that, the three of us had a good laugh, and then Barry passed the phone back to me. When I got the phone, the first thing I said to Tommy was, “How long have you been in the business?” When he told me – and it had been some months – I asked him this:

“Tommy, why didn’t you call me?”

He said these famous words:

“Because I ASSUMED that you would not be interested.”

I informed him that he had made a big mistake, because I was going to build a big business, and as a result he was going to miss out on a lot of income that he would have received for being my sponsor.

Have you ever done that? Have you ever assumed something, only to discover later that you should have opened your mouth instead? Your assumption may have kept you from marrying the spouse of your dreams, or kept you from landing your dream job, or from building an empire. All because you assumed something.

Another example of getting a negative result from not speaking up happened years ago during my first marriage. After many years of our being married, I would ask my wife what she would like for her birthday, our anniversary, or for Christmas. Many times she would say that she had no list, or that anything was fine. Sometimes, however, she would be upset with what I got her, saying that I should know her better than to get her that. My message to her is the same message that I will give you:

No one can read minds. It is ALWAYS better to tell someone what it is that you want or need. If you fail to communicate, many times you will not like the result.

I will leave you today with this message about communication that I first heard many years ago:

“When is the best time to tell your wife that you love her? Before somebody else does.”

Decide today that you will begin to SPEAK UP. You will most likely enjoy the new results you get from doing so. I know I have.