What is Say Go Be Do?

Years ago I listened to an audio by Tiffany Earl entitled “Say Go Be Do”. I’ve actually listened to it several times over the years. It’s one of those classics that you can get something different out of every time you hear it. Recently I found the book that Tiffany wrote based on the same concept. She shared a lot of the same concepts and ideas in the book that she shared in the audio, but expands on them and gives more examples. It’s a short book and worth the read.

What is Say Go Be Do? Tiffany got the concept from reading a book about Suzuki, a Japanese violin master. In the book Suzuki and his family are concerned with a nephew’s behavior and wondering what they can do to improve it. Suzuki’s idea is to stop focusing on the boy and his behavior, and to instead focus on their behavior. To Suzuki this meant listening to his conscience. He and his family made a goal to act when their consciences spoke. He said, “If you think of doing something, do it. . .To merely ‘want’ to do something is not enough. It is the same as not doing it.”

Tiffany goes on to tell how Suzuki applied this idea. He and his sister agreed to act on any good idea that came into their minds. One winter day she came home and told how she saw a wounded soldier begging on the side of the road. She told her brother that she wanted to invite him home to sit by their warm fire. Suzuki responded, “You merely wanted to?” She was remixed of their pact and ran back to bring the man into their home. “We should get so that it is second nature to put our thoughts into action.

Tiffany explained that there is not a simple translation from Japanese to English for this idea that Suzuki discovered. He had to use whole sentences like “if you think of doing something, do it,” and “to merely ‘want’ to do something is not enough,” and “conscience is the voice of God.” She created her own creed that meant the same thing—Say Go Be Do.

Say what you NEED to say
Go where you are CALLED to go
Be what you are SUPPOSED to be
Do what you HAVE to do

The book “Say Go Be Do” is full of examples of people who acted on their thoughts and even one of someone who didn’t act that had a negative consequence. Most of the time we don’t know the end result of our actions, but I think when we choose to act we will be blessed. Tiffany even believes that you earn the right to receive more epiphanies when you act on them.

Right after I first heard the audio I had a Say Go Be Do experience. I was out to dinner with a group of friends. A mom was sitting at a nearby booth with two toddlers and a nursing baby. The toddlers were grumpy but there wasn’t much the mom could do because she had a baby attached to her. Maybe it was because I had just listened to the talk or maybe it was because I remembered the days of having to nurse in public and not knowing what to do with my other young kids, but I had the thought to go offer my help. I grabbed some cookies off our tray and sat with them mom for a minute. When I returned to our group, a friend mentioned that she had a thought to do the same thing but she didn’t act. It was an opportunity for me to tell her what I’d learned from the audio.

Sometimes Say Go Be Dos are little things we get an idea to do. After taking a bath awhile back, I had the thought to move the soap back up to the rack. I argued with myself that it wasn’t that big of a deal to leave it down, but I decided to act any way. Who knows if it really made a difference to the next shower-er? Another time I had the thought to put the grocery cart back in the cart rack. It was hot and I didn’t want to but I did it anyway. Sometimes it’s just a thought to stop what I’m doing and smile at one of my kids. Or to text a friend to see how they are doing.

Big or small, knowing or not know the end result, acting on a Say Go Be Do provides a blessing. Sometimes to you, most often to the receiver. Have you ever acted on a prompting? Share your experience in the comments.