A woman once came to Gandhi with her child, concerned about her child’s habit of eating too much sugar.
Knowing how much her child respected Gandhi, she asked him, ‘Could you please tell my daughter to stop eating sugar?’
Gandhi listened and then replied, ‘Please come back in two weeks.’
The woman and her child returned two weeks later.
This time, Gandhi simply told the child, ‘Please do not eat sugar.’
Grateful, the mother thanked him, but she couldn’t help asking, ‘Why did we need to wait two weeks for you to say that?’
Gandhi said, ‘Two weeks ago, I was eating sugar.’“
Inner work prompt: What are you asking others to do that you aren’t doing yourself? Ask yourself: how can I get to a place where I can say what I want others to do without saying a word.