Coming from the corporate world where everything was structured, you had to work your 9 to 5 or even longer, and then switch to the entrepreneurial life… when actually you have to start from zero, you find yourself at home, and that was my case…creating those routines was rough…
I know I could be a bit different because my corporate job was organizing events, so being organized was already part of my structure. I was also a dancer for many years, so punctuality, routines, repeating, rehearsing is also a big part of me… you repeat to get it right…
And not long ago I understood that with the pandemic many people have become entrepreneurs by force or by choice and they are having a hard time adjusting to having a structure…
And I remember doing a live training last year about productivity… and you know when people are listening to you, but they are not really listening to you… but the are agreeing and saying,
“yes, for sure! That’s what you should do ”
“That’s the way it is”
And funny enough some of the people that were agreeing with me, I know for a fact they are not productive or they hold themselves accountable...
And then the live is over, and people go back to what they usually do… lol not being productive and making the same mistakes again…
So, in this entire process of understanding human behavior and why people don't do what they say… and hopefully i can shift your perspective a little bit…
Is that there are 3 ways that all entrepreneurs and especially service based entrepreneurs need to be accountable…
And that accountability to yourself
Accountability to your business
Accountability to your partners, bod, suppliers,
Accountability for yourself,
We tell ourselves things like
“ oh no they are better than me
there’s nothing i can’t do about that…
they are either born faster, smarter or stronger
So how about holding yourself accountable and proving yourself wrong?
But I know what you might be thinking… No, girl my life is so busy, I don't have time to workout, or read…
the way I see it, is how you’re going to feel at the end of the day with yourself?
And I don't mean at the end of a few days… that day…
Every morning that you wake up, it is a new opportunity for you to be great. Each day to have the opportunity to change your life and commit to actions that help you to go forward.
You only need 1 single day to rehearse
You only need 1 day to do 1 thing that you’re not doing, and if you don't do it, you have 1 day to try it again.
I know it's hard to commit, I sure do know it! I always say to my clients, if you’re not able to do what you want to do, it's probably because you’ve added too many things to do in 1 day….
And when you have so many things to do, you don't even know how to prioritize what’s important and what's not…
Not only that, you’re not keeping the promises to yourself, and that in the end can create plenty of suffering, judgment on yourself and plenty of excuses you begin to tell yourself why you’re not doing the things you said you're going to do.
And the only way we manage to keep ourselves accountable with ourselves is when we add another person into the mix, whether its a friend or family member… and we tell them we’re going to;
I don't know…
Lose weight together
Go and train for a marathon…
You’re keeping yourself accountable because you don't want to let down your friend, there is a commitment to that person… and that’s what motivates you to take the action to be accountable..
If you’re committing to your friend, why not start with you?
Now when it comes to
Accountability in Business
There are many things we verbally say that we want to do, you know those goals and dreams for your business, and because you said them out loud and they were not written down, they are not considered to be that important…
In our case, when you say things like yes, I want to promote the business more and you end up not doing it consistently, it obviously creates a distrust with time, that what you say you’re going to do.
In business we put certain standard so unreachable and we dream so much, that when we don't reach them… we end up hurting the business… and unfortunately your staff and the people you work with they watch… because you’re the voice of the business and when they see that the goals you have setup and you’re not taking any actions, then they start to notice that what you have said, it's not very serious.
There are consequences to our actions, and they are consequences to our inactions.
Mike Murdock says “ the secret to your future is hidden in your daily routines'
taking action will help with accountability because you’re now aware that what you do and what you don't do has a direct effect on the reality you’re creating for your business.
No one else is responsible for your business reality, because you're the determining factor to what you perceive as success.
The best way in business to keep yourself accountable is to write down what you need to do…
Your commitments to your business are not only to make money, they are also to promote your business to have more visibility and have more sales.
Having 1 goal a day that you commit to promoting your business is better than having 10 to-do’s that you’re going to be avoiding...
And last but not least
Accountability to your partners, bod, suppliers,
And this is just in case that you have business partners, a board of directors.. But still is the same… you words have consequences if you have found yourself to make a promise to those partners, suppliers and bod… and time has gone by and let me take again the example of the promotions because you know I’m all about marketing…
if you have said that you want to write more to your database, promote your business and months go by and you’re not delivering on your promise to your partners etc…
How can they trust what you promise in the future? And again… I’m not trying to put blame into any of the no action, maybe you had great excuses, but I ask you not promoting your business is an option?
The way i see it and I hope I can get the message through is that…
Everyday it's an opportunity to exercise your right to the pursuit of your happiness and the accomplishment of your truth.
Think of what works for you?
What kind of accountability works for you?
What kind of structures do you need to put into place so that you can keep the habits that work for you?
Do you need another person to keep you accountable?
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