“Well done is better than well said.”

Ben Franklin

Let’s take a trip back in time, to a room with Benjamin Franklin at its center. Imagine him poised to share a nugget of wisdom that will reverberate through the ages. He leans in and utters, “Well done is better than well said.” Think about those words for a moment. They’re like a swift punch to the gut of procrastination and half-hearted commitments.

Now, if you’re a steak connoisseur, you might cringe at the term ‘well done’. But let’s not confuse culinary preferences with life advice. Outside of our favorite steakhouse, ‘well done’ is a benchmark for success. It’s the sweet spot where actions eclipse mere words, and we leave the realm of intending to live fully in the world of doing.

The idea isn’t just to aspire or to plan or to hope. Instead, it’s about rolling up your sleeves and diving headfirst into the work. It’s about taking those beautifully crafted intentions and converting them into tangible actions. It’s about trading the comfort of daydreaming for the gritty reality of accomplishment.

So, in the spirit of Ben Franklin, let’s champion ‘well done’ over ‘well said’, and ‘doing’ over ‘intending’. Let’s choose to live rather than simply to wish. Because at the end of the day, our actions define us far more vividly than our words.

Stephen Boudreau serves as VP of Brand and Community at Virtuous Software. For over two decades, he has helped nonprofits leverage the digital space to grow their impact. To that end, Stephen co-founded RaiseDonors, a platform that provides nonprofits with technology and experiences that remove barriers to successful online fundraising. He is an avid (but aging) soccer player, audiobook enthusiast, and the heavily-disputed UNO champion of his household.

Copyright ©2023 Stephen Boudreau.