The fifth value in my summary cowboy code is cowboy actions speak louder than words. They do what needs to be done. They don’t brag. You know who they are by what they do.
Quietly doing what’s needed is counter-cultural in our look-at-me, selfie-social media world. OK you’re reading this on social media. Point taken. Guilty as charged. But we are still left with the question: What’s cool about doing what you are supposed to do if nobody notices?
People do notice what we do. It may not be under the bright light of media celebrity, but the people around you know what you do. In fact your actions say more about you than anything you could put into words. Your life is a body of work. It accumulates in something we call reputation. It’s what you are known for. It’s who you are as a person. It’s how you will be remembered; and in life’s final reckoning, it’s the only thing you get to take with you.
Throughout these posts we pose the question: Where do young people go to learn these values? Often we are left to suggest that it is up to us to make a little of the cowboy code rub off on the young by living the code ourselves. Said another way we set an example by what we do. We may not do it consciously, but maybe we should. Our actions do speak louder than words.
Popular culture comes and popular culture goes, but the cowboy way of doing things never goes out of style. There’s a little cowboy in all of us. The cowboy code helps us show it.
1. Cowboys are Truthful and Honest 2. A Cowboy’s Word is a Bond 3. Cowboys Play by the Rules 4. Cowboys Respect Authority 5. Cowboy Actions Speak Louder Than Words
Quietly doing what’s needed is counter-cultural in our look-at-me, selfie-social media world. OK you’re reading this on social media. Point taken. Guilty as charged. But we are still left with the question: What’s cool about doing what you are supposed to do if nobody notices?
People do notice what we do. It may not be under the bright light of media celebrity, but the people around you know what you do. In fact your actions say more about you than anything you could put into words. Your life is a body of work. It accumulates in something we call reputation. It’s what you are known for. It’s who you are as a person. It’s how you will be remembered; and in life’s final reckoning, it’s the only thing you get to take with you.
Throughout these posts we pose the question: Where do young people go to learn these values? Often we are left to suggest that it is up to us to make a little of the cowboy code rub off on the young by living the code ourselves. Said another way we set an example by what we do. We may not do it consciously, but maybe we should. Our actions do speak louder than words.
Popular culture comes and popular culture goes, but the cowboy way of doing things never goes out of style. There’s a little cowboy in all of us. The cowboy code helps us show it.
1. Cowboys are Truthful and Honest
2. A Cowboy’s Word is a Bond
3. Cowboys Play by the Rules
4. Cowboys Respect Authority
5. Cowboy Actions Speak Louder Than Words
https://www.amazon.com/author/paulcolt
Ride easy,
Paul