Time to be Accountable to Yourself!

When was the last time you woke up and decided it was going to be “your day” and you did EXACTLY what you wanted to do? Can’t remember? Well, you’re not alone.

If you’re like most of us, you spend a lot of time during your work week making sure you meet all of your commitments, arrive at meetings on time, return calls and emails promptly, and get done what you said you were going to do. Because if you want to get ahead, if you want the good performance review, you’ve got to be ACCOUNTABLE. And that usually means being accountable to your team, your manager, the company.

And little changes on the weekend. You need to be accountable to your family (as you should be!), accountable to the “homestead” and the pets and your friends and so on.

What about being accountable to yourself? Where do you fit in the mix? Generally last or a close runner-up. Am I right?

I’m here to suggest that it’s high time to start being accountable to yourself. This is different from “personal accountability” which is about owning up to your mistakes, accepting responsibility for your behavior, admitting limitations in knowledge or skills, etc. Most likely by now you’ve got that down. Being accountable to yourself means taking some time to think about what you really want and then allowing yourself (and expecting yourself) to do what it takes to get it. It means taking risks, being bold, stretching to the point that it’s scary and exhilarating and FUN.

Think about it for a minute. Is there something you’ve been longing to do – develop a long-percolating idea, get out of a job you hate, move to a place you love – but keep putting it off because you’re too busy being accountable to others? Who’s in charge here? YOU ARE.

Follow these steps:

1. 1. 1. Write down what’s truly important to you. Don’t know? Get REAL and figure it out!
      2. Make a plan. Goals. Actions. Deadlines. STRETCH!
      3. Implement the plan. Be BOLD! Be ACCOUNTABLE (to yourself!)
      4. Give yourself a STELLAR review.

Remember, you’ve only got one life to live. Make sure it’s your own.

Till next time,

Karen