Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 35 seconds:
TODAY’S IDEA: Accountability is a Choice – Part 2
— From The 12 Week Year: Get More Done in 12 Weeks than Others Do in 12 Months by Brian Moran and Michael Lennington
Yesterday we learned that, unfortunately, when we think of accountability we tend to see it under a negative light. When we think or hear that someone must be accountable for something or that we need to keep people accountable, we are usually referring to consequences.
Accountability is ownership, and it is based on the fundamental concept that we all have freedom of choice.
And precisely because of this last point, the authors mention how easy it is to develop a tendency to look outside ourselves for things to change and improve: “we’re waiting on the economy to pick up, the housing market to turn around, or for our company to come up with a new product, more competitive pricing, or better advertising.”
We don’t have any control over that, yet “it’s easy to become a victim to outside circumstances, spending time and energy hoping and imagining what our lies would be like if the world around us were different, believing that these are the keys to improving our results.”
“The only things you control are your thinking and your actions. But those are enough if (and it’s a big if) you are willing to own them.”
Recently, I heard my friend Evan Horowitz, CEO of Movers+Shakers, say that the things that hold us back can be grouped into three categories:
- Out There: Competitors, employees, economy, industry, trends, customers, family, etc. These are things over which we have no control.
- In Here: Our time allocations, self-discipline, skills, risk-taking, emotional patterns, procrastination, perfectionism, etc. These are things over which we definitely have control and choice.
- Neither Here Nor There: In this category are those thoughts about which we have absolutely no control either and cannot choose to act with anything other than acceptance. So let’s not get hung up on trying to get more hours in the day, or how unfair life is that we do not have a rich uncle who has left us a big inheritance, etc.
Lastly, Moran and Lennington emphasize that accountability is anything but passive. On the contrary, it is active and empowering. “True accountability actively confronts the truth, it confronts with freedom of choice and the consequences of those choices. In this way accountability is extremely empowering, but you must be willing to confront reality and the truth of your situation.”
In closing, I’ll leave you with this great quote from the book:
“When you understand that true accountability is about choice and taking ownership of your choices, everything changes. You move from resistance to empowerment, from limits to possibilities, and from mediocrity to greatness.”
ACTION
TODAY: You are the only person that can hold yourself accountable. Reinforce the thought patterns of ownership in your mind every step of the way.
FUTURE: When you find yourself thinking about things that are out of your control, gently bring your focus to those things over which you indeed have a choice.
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