The Accountability Coin

The word accountability is abused and misused.  We do this by removing the hard parts of accountability.  The part that calls for change.  Think of accountability as a coin.  We are very good at viewing the front side of the coin.   The front side is awareness, which is the easy part.  In fact, today’s world is full of awareness opportunities.  My phone, for example, currently holds no less than 17 apps that are designed to keep me aware of things.  It’s loaded with financial apps that keep me aware of my credit card usage, to-do apps that keep me aware of what I want to get done and reporting apps that tell me what did and didn’t get done. It’s awareness overload!  So if being aware is important, why are we not achieving my potential?  Because we are not looking at the back side of the accountability coin.  It’s labeled ownership.

Perhaps the best way to illustrate ownership is by knowing its opposite.  When it comes to accountability, there are only two choices.  You can have an ownership mindset, or you can have a victim mindset.  How do you know which mindset you have?  Take a serious look at your feelings. Are you anxious, afraid, or frustrated?  Those feelings are accompanied by a victim mindset.  Once you take ownership, however, those feelings fall away and are immediately replaced with good things like confidence and abundance.

So, what goes between awareness and ownership?  Let’s call it resolve.  Start by remembering why you chose this business in the first place.  Remember your Big Why.  If it’s big enough, if it’s the right one, it will power your action.   Your action propels you’re becoming.  Congratulations, it’s one more step toward becoming the person that you were created to be.