NO EXCUSES: BEING ACCOUNTABLE FOR YOUR OWN SUCCESS

Do you feel frustrated with your level of success? Do you feel you lack the character to be held responsible for your level of success? Are you feeling stuck in life and need a little push to keep going and move forward? Have you ever been overwhelmed with blame for how your life has turned out thus far? Well, I would like for you to honestly answer a couple of questions. How much of your success would you say is up to you—your choices, your actions, your behaviors—versus outside conditions?

If your answer is that you are primarily responsible for your own success—and about 15% of your success depends on outside forces—then you are more than likely to be successful. However if you are a blamer meaning your problems and failures—big or small, personal or professional—are not due in part because of you and they are because of others and that circumstances are always beyond your control, and you just have bad luck, you are doomed to fail.

Many people ruin their lives because they are excuse makers. The sad thing is that these individuals do not realize they're doing it. Making excuses comes from a very weak place. Making excuses is a weakness and I want to show you how making excuses is harmful and that you can change that today. You can be courageous today and decide to not make excuses anymore.

Here is the good news. Being accountable is not only a mind-set it is a skill-set that can be learned by all. You may not realize it but this skill-set is a three-step rudimentary process and is as easy as counting one-two-three.

1. Responsibility Being responsible is not an action per se it is more about how you think and who you are. Responsibility is a mere existence of yourself. When you are truly a responsible person, you believe the buck stops with you. You believe your success or failure is on you, whether you work with a team or encounter unforeseen circumstances. You are responsible because your commitment is to a result before the facts are available which also is done before any action is taken.

HOW DO I START? —Be responsible “no matter what.” When there are no problems taking responsibility is easy. It is when things get tough when taking responsibility is hard. However a truly responsible person accepts responsibility no matter what. So next time your team isn’t performing, calling, presenting, prospecting, etc., be 100% responsible for the outcome. Not a little. Not somewhat. Not pretty much. Own it all 100%—good or bad—with no room for negotiation. —You are powerful—recognize it. God gave us all the ability to be totally responsible. But many of us make countless excuses and either it is through not realizing or admitting that we have complete control over the success of our lives--personally and professionally. Because we are completely in control over our power we can give it away, but we must realize that is done with intent. Giving the power or control of your lives away doesn’t happen without your permission.

—Deal with what is. If you think about the past, when was the last time you were able to change it? No matter how hard you try you cannot. The only thing that you can change is now. What happened previously does not matter. What should have happened does not matter. What could have happened does not matter. What matters is right here and now. Dealing with what you can affect saves you a lot of heart ache trying to find fault or blame or even worrying about the outcomes. Living in could’ve, should’ve would’ve world is a waste of time. So, the only question that you need to deal with is: “How do I want to react to the situation that is right in front of me?”

2. Self-empowerment Empowerment comes in one form and that is self-empowerment. Self-empowerment is different from granting authority because it comes from the inside. When you empower yourself, you take the actions—and the risks—to achieve a result and get what you want. You essentially take the power out of the hands of others waiting on them to declare that you empowered or for them to give you that one lucky break. Self-Empowerment causes you to step outside your comfort zone, make things happen, and answer for the outcomes.

HOW DO I START? —Manage expectations. The quickest and most direct route to self-empowerment is clarity. You need to be clear about expectations—not only what you expect, but also what’s expected of you. In order for that to happen, you need to ask questions, make agreements, and clarify everything in writing. If you are unwilling or do not do these things you suffer a high risk—missed expectations.

—Take back your time. It is important to understand that the word “No” is o.k. to use. The word “No” is empowering. So every time you think, “I can’t say no,” ask yourself if you can’t—or if you’re unwilling to. Take back your time by eliminating the to-do list. Instead track projects and deadlines on a calendar with small daily action tasks. There are only so many hours in a day so no over-scheduling. It is impossible to cram 12 hours of work into eight hours, so stop trying. Be realistic with your estimation of times (we may as well come to the realization that most tasks take longer than we think they will anyway).

—Sing your own praises. It is alright to be proud of yourself just as long as it is not obnoxious. You do not want to be the one who is going around saying “One day they’ll notice how much I do and give me the recognition I deserve.” NOT! To avoid the embarrassment of sounding ridiculous, take stock of your personal talents and triumphs and let others know who you are and your contributions to the team. It is perfectly o.k. to say “I am proud of myself for doing x, y, and z”; It was challenging getting to that pin level but I am happy that I put the work in and made it”.

3. Personal accountability Personal accountability is the third piece of the wheel in making you an excuse free individual. Responsibility happens prior to, self-empowerment takes place during and, personal accountability is the transformation that takes place after. Personal accountability is simply a willingness to answer for the outcomes of your choices, actions, and behaviors. When you are personally accountable, you do not participate in the blame game, you just stop assigning blame, “should-ing” on people, and making excuses. Instead, when your choices cause problems you immediately take the fall.

HOW DO I START? —Tell the truth. It is amazing how even this character trait seems to escape many when they become adults. We learn early on in our lives that everyone makes mistakes. In fact, I learned a song oops I made a mistake that’s all mistakes can happen to anyone…yet when we lie we make things worse. Those lessons do not change the moment we become an adult, they are even more prevalent then. Look at USC football player Josh Shaw who was suspended indefinitely after telling the school that he lied about saving his seven-year-old nephew from drowning. Lying or trying to cover up always makes matters worse—no exceptions. Some people tend to justify that it is a little lie. There is no such thing. If it is not the actual truth it is a lie no matter how much you convince yourself it is small. Save yourself some time, do not lie. Nobody believes them anyway—not even you. You are better than that. Do not demote yourself to being a liar.

—Police yourself. Here is your opportunity if you ever wanted to wear a badge. Take inventory of your actions. Are you accountable for them even if no one holds you accountable—or no one catches you? Yes, you are. So be your own “accountability cop” and police yourself. Wear the badge well while on that long and winding road of life, choose accountability at every turn.

—Look to yourself—first. When circumstances develop, do not look to others look first to yourself. Do not try and justify your behavior by making statements like "I don't want to do that. I could get hurt." "I dare not take a risk. I could get hurt." "I would try it, but I'm afraid it might not work." "I could lose everything." Let’s ask ourselves four specific questions: “What is the problem?” “What am I doing—or not doing—to contribute to the problem?” "What will I do differently to help solve the problem?” and “How will I be accountable for the result?”

Personal accountability is deeply lacking—and urgently needed—in business and across society as a whole. Do not wait any longer—do it now. Choose accountability and own your success in your network marketing business and in your life. You can have Purpose Directed Success today!

#noexcusesbeingaccountableforyourownsuccess