I don’t know about you but I love Spring. To me it’s a clean slate; a fresh start. It’s a chance to make life better and be more successful. Have you ever wondered why some people are more successful than others or seem to accomplish more? I wondered the same thing and this year (as part of my preparation for Spring cleaning) I decided to find an answer.
After doing a little research, I finally stumbled upon what I believe to be the answer. Don’t get me wrong, there’s definitely more than one factor for success (clear goals, focus, definiteness of purpose, and taking action to name a few ) but it appeared to me that there was one in particular that shone above the rest.
Over the years, I’ve taken all kinds of classes, seminars, workshops, retreats, webinars, teleseminars and made all kinds of resolutions and set all kinds of goals and yes, even committed them to paper. You name and I’ve done it. So why were some years more successful than others? Well, I looked back at some of the things that I had done in my life and dissected them with the idea of finding commonalities and/or differences in how they were executed. What I found was that the ones where I was to report to someone or had told someone what I wanted to achieve were the ones that I got the best results from. I realized that I had been accountable to someone other than myself for my results. It was a huge AHA! moment and one that will definitely be something that makes a significant difference in how I do things this year.
I know most of you are probably thinking that you are already accountable and in lots of way you are. You are accountable to your customers, suppliers, family, friends, colleagues and the list goes on. This list however is usually about getting things done; not making things happen. So the question remains “are you accountable to someone that will help you grow your business?” If the answer is “no” or you “don’t know” then you need to do something about it. I honestly believe that you can be more successful (assuming that is what you want) if you have accountability in your life.
So where do you start? The first step is to decide that you want to be successful and then choose an accountability factor that suits your style and budget. Here are just a few ways you can be accountable: join a mastermind group that has your success at heart; take on an accountability partner such as a coach, a mentor or a fellow entrepreneur who will communicate with you on a regular basis and push you to do what you say you are going to do; or sign up for a program that is results-oriented and uses accountability partners as part of their curriculum. As entrepreneurs, we are on our own a great deal and it can be difficult and having someone in your corner that cares about your business growth makes it a little easier.
Whatever you choose to do this year, choose to be successful by choosing to be accountable.
