In one of the podcasts that I regularly listen to, a business coach made an observation that grabbed me by the throat. This is what he said:

If you want to win, you’ve got to know how to execute. And it’s in the execution that so many people break. They just don’t want to do the things. Everyone wants the noun without the verb.

Thanks to Mrs. Cosgrove (my eighth grade English teacher), I have a pretty solid understanding of English grammar. I am sure that I learned most of the basics before I entered Mrs. Cosgrove’s classroom, but she is the teacher who cemented my grasp of the fundamentals. Every time we read a book, a magazine article, or a newspaper, she made us diagram the main sentences. The purpose of diagramming a sentence is to provide a visual representation of its structure to better understand the relationships between its constituent parts. The result is better comprehension and accelerated composition. In retrospect, that drill is one of the best habits that I was forced to develop. It’s impact is so deeply ingrained in me that now I do it unconsciously.

But even if you never had a teacher who made you diagram sentences, I suspect that most of us know the basic distinction between a noun and verb. A noun is a person, place, or thing. A verb is an action. Together, they constitute the basic structure of a sentence.

But not only does a noun and verb constitute the basic structure of a sentence. During that podcast, I learned that they also constitute the basic structure of success. Nouns are what you going after: the people that you want to meet, the places you we want to go, and the things that you want to posses. Verbs are the actions that you must take to find the person(s), arrive at the place, or possess the thing. And the sad but stubborn fact is that most of us want the result (the noun), but do not want to take the actions (the verb) that are necessary to achieve the result.

I am a recovering political junkie, and one of my favorite books on the subject is Richard Ben Crammer’s What It Takes: The Way To The House, a book that is considered by many as the definitive treatment of the rigorous requirements of running for President. In his detailed and exhaustive profiles of each of the candidates that ran for the office in 1988, Crammer interviewed one who said something that makes the point that I am driving at in an unforgettable way. When asked about the demanding schedule required of presidential candidates, this one candidate said that he finally had to admit to himself that “he wanted to be President, but that he didn’t want to run for President.” Being president is a noun. Running for president is a verb. And like most of us, he wanted the noun without the verb.

Being the boss is a noun. Running the company is a verb.

Being rich is a noun. Saving and investing money are verbs,

Having excellent credit is a noun. Paying your bills on time is verb.

Being in shape is a noun. Doing pushups, chin-ups, and sit-ups are verbs.

Having a good relationship is a noun. Spending time, paying attention, and exercising compassion and consideration and verbs.

Even the scriptures insist on this truth. James 2:14-17 declares:

Dear friends, do you think you’ll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, “Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!” and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?

God talk without God acts is outrageous nonsense!

So do me a favor: do something!

Just don’t talk about, dream about, or hope about who you want to meet, where you want to go, and what you want to have. A single step in the direction of your desired future will help advance your progress much farther than you can imagine.

When you start moving, God starts moving!