Life is not accountable to us. We are accountable to life. 

                                                                                        - Denis Waitley

Accountability

Yes, I took the last banana

Put yourself back in your child's mind.  Remember when something broke in your house, or maybe you fought with a sibling and someone got hurt. If not at your home, then it was at school. At some point, you were in the thick of it. An adult came on the scene and what did they want to know?  "Who's responsible?"

When you were scolded or punished, you were held accountable for what happened.  For the most part when we hear the word accountability, it brings up negative feelings.  When you did something good as a child you were praised and told great job. However, you were often held accountable for bad things that happened.

Therefore, the idea of being accountable was not a warm and fuzzy feeling.  Guess what? You still have that child like reaction when you hear the word, I will say it quietly I don't want you to be uncomfortable, "accountability."  Okay, it's time to get over the idea that being held accountable is a bad thing.  You want to be accountable for what you do.

Here is something I always tell my clients, "Everything you do counts." So many people when I tell them that have a defensive reaction to me.  They say, "Hey Coach, that's a little bit harsh, don't you think?"  They think that I am being too extreme and that the approach to life should allow for a more forgiving, relaxed approach.  After all, we are only human.

The reason the reaction is so strong is that we are back to that child mind.  We hear that everything we do counts and what we are hearing is we are being held accountable and we immediately have a negative feeling. However the idea that everything that you do counts is not punishing, it simply the truth. Think about it, every breath you take is one more breath, you cannot choose to not count it, and it counts.  Everything you do counts, exercise, work, food, cigarettes, conversations, what ever it is, it counts.  There is no way to get away from it, it all counts. 

Now the reason why it is not punishing is because I am not saying that you are being judged, all I am saying is that it counts.  Now the only things we don't want to count are the things we know are not good for us.  I mean why wouldn't you want to count the things you do that are good for you?  Therefore, what we are really saying is we want a way to deny the things we do that are not good for us.  Sorry, those things count.  Doesn't mean you have to be perfect, but just realize they count, you can't get away from it.

It is that nature of living in denial that allows us to not be accountable for what we do.  By not being accountable we do not need to do the things that we should to create the success that we want in our lives.  We are so used to fooling ourselves that we work against ourselves, "It's just one piece of cake, it doesn't count." One cigarette, one missed workout, etc etc etc and if you added up all the things that don't count in your mind, the numbers would be scary.  So since we are so used to fooling ourselves, we a have to learn how to get out of denial and become accountable and really create success. 

Get past your childlike fear of being held accountable. Start by declaring your commitments with others and allow yourself to be held accountable and develop a pattern of successful behavior, because everything you do counts. Let's start adding up our behavior towards living with the results we want, connect with others and become accountable!

Here is to counting your success!

Devlyn Steele

P.S. Coming soon to Toolstolife.com: The Commitment Tool