Showing posts with label Personal Accountability. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Personal Accountability. Show all posts

Making and Keeping Commitments.






A commitment is a really serious agreement to do something. It means putting the full force of personal integrity behind an action. Keeping commitments, even when difficult, creates positive power in the world. It's all a question of priorities.

We all make commitments every day. Some seem small and insignificant-agreed upon time to meet, a promise to run an errand or a promise to follow-up. Others are ostensibly bigger and more important-a formal contract or legal document, etc. It is important to consider all commitments equally important, because this is the way trust is built and maintained. A person's reputation is built upon their ability to make and keep commitments. Your life will work better when commitments are carefully made and diligently kept.

There are five key factors in making and keeping commitments.

All Commitments Are Important: When you agree to do something-do it as agreed. When you agree to meet someone, be there on time. When you fail to keep a commitment you fail yourself first and the other person second.

Be Careful What You Agree To: Many people find it easier to say yes instead of no. It is far better to agree to what you can do, than saying yes to please someone at the moment and later fail your commitment because of being over-committed or because you have difficulty saying no.

Manage Your Commitments: Keep a log of your commitments-Write them down. You may have great intentions, but if you forget to do what you agreed to do, the result is the same as your 'Choosing' not to keep your commitment.

Renegotiate When You Are Unable to Keep Your Commitment: When you discover you are unable or unwilling to complete an agreement, go to the other party/parties and renegotiate.

Manage By Agreement: Instead of telling someone to do something, ask if they would agree to doing it and by when. You have a greater chance it will get done if you ask rather than tell.

By paying careful attention to the commitments you make, tracking them and developing the habit of keeping all your commitments you will be known as a person of integrity. Your life and the world around you work in direct proportion to the quality of your commitments.

Do you honor your commitments? Are you always making commitments to people or yourself that you don’t want to make or have no intention of following thru on? Pay attention to what you’re committing to and to whom you’re making those commitments.

Making commitments, keeping commitments, and repeating this cycle will increase trust. You need to do what you say you are going to do. However, this can also be difficult if you over-compromise and do not deliver. If you do this repeatedly, you may not have a second or third chance to regain the trust of professional and personal people in your life because you will lose all credibility.

Now, do not let this scare you, you cannot be afraid to make commitments because commitments are part of everyday life and business. Making commitments builds hope; keeping commitments builds trust.

Your integrity to the commitments you make is one of the most important factors in achieving a consistent level of joy and happiness. Although you may not be aware of it consciously, if you have a bunch of broken commitments over the last day/week/month/year/decade, you’re energetically drowning in the weight of that lack of integrity.

You know when you’re not doing the stuff you say you’re going to do—whether it was getting up at a certain time this morning, working out, going somewhere, helping a friend or colleague or following a certain routine, whatever it is. To the extent you’re not honoring those commitments; you are not be true to yourself and others, Simple as that.

Until you find a way to somehow increase your willpower or self-discipline, you will still keep failing to keep your commitments. Discipline requires time, effort and respect within yourself.  Every kept promise to others and yourself creates more self-trust which builds the foundations of more discipline in the future. 

Disciplined people have created a high degree of self-trust between their various states of mind. This self-trust allows them to carry out orders made in the past even when they don’t feel like it. When you find yourself continually failing to keep a commitment then you either need to start smaller or add more leverage. Either the law you enacted is too strict to be upheld or the punishments and rewards you have in place aren’t enticing enough to follow it.

The good news is the solution is simple and you can change everything by starting right now to honor your commitments.… Taking an inventory of your commitments today is the beginning of reconnecting your energy to them and taking action.

Make a list on paper of all the commitments you have outstanding right now. What you made in past that you haven’t done. You have the choice of now deciding which ones you are no longer committed to honoring and decide which ones you will re-commit to honoring. Get completion with these and start to honor them so you can move forward with integrity to do what you committed yourself to do. 

Fulfill on your commitment. Take pride in doing what you agreed to do. Realize that being acknowledged as a person of integrity will ultimately make your personal and professional life better.

 “The commitments we make to ourselves and to others, and our integrity to those commitments, is the essence and clearest manifestation of our proactivity.” ~ Stephen R. Covey 

Expand your knowledge and enlighten your mind with the tools you need to excel in your life! Work with a Business and Life Management Coach with over 20 years’ experience empowering people to attain self-defined success in their professional and personal lives. Book a free session at www.denisedema.com today. 

How Personal Accountability Improves Your Life



When you’re personally accountable, you take ownership of situations and see them through.


Personal accountability is being willing to answer for the outcomes resulting from your choices, behaviors, and actions. When you’re personally accountable, you take ownership of situations that you’re involved in. You see them through, and you take responsibility for what happens – good or bad. You don’t blame others if things go wrong. Instead, you do your best to make things right.


Sometimes it can be tough to take personal accountability. However, you'll find that it offers many advantages.


First, you’re likely to have healthier relationships with your friends, family, and colleagues. A study found that children who were encouraged to take personal responsibility for their actions also had more positive social interactions.


Accountability also builds trust within teams and organizations, because people know that they can depend on each other. Leaders who are accountable are more likely to be trusted and respected, because people know that they will keep their word.


Personal accountability can save time and money, too. People who take responsibility for their actions speak up, and they look for solutions when there's a problem. This not only prevents the situation getting worse, but it stops costs and delays from escalating.


Last, personal accountability can boost your chances of promotion. When you show senior colleagues that you’re dependable, you mark yourself out as someone with leadership potential.



How to Be More Accountable


Personal accountability isn’t a trait that people are born with, it’s a way of living that you can learn. Use the strategies below to become more accountable.


Know Your Role - It’s hard to be personally accountable if you're not clear what you’re responsible for.



If this is the case for you, ask your boss to provide a job description that sets out your tasks clearly. If responsibilities are unclear within the team, ask your manager to outline who is responsible for different team tasks, and to share this information with everyone involved.


Be Honest - Success in life only comes when you’re completely honest with yourself, and with others. This means setting aside your pride, and admitting when you’ve made a mistake.


So, tune into your "gut feelings" when things are difficult, and learn to ask for help if you’re struggling, so that you don’t let others down.


Honesty is always the best policy, but don’t use it to blame others, or to make excuses. Instead, focus on your own role in a situation, and think about how you can resolve the problem.


Say Sorry - Accountability doesn’t stop with honesty. If something has gone wrong and you were responsible, then you need to apologize.


Focus on making amends when you apologize – show what you’ll do to make the situation right. This allows everyone involved to move on, and helps them focus on the end goal, rather than the problem.


Also sometimes we must become aware of the legal implications of saying sorry: in some countries and states, this can be taken as an admission of liability.Take advice from your boss or a legal professional if you need to apologize on behalf of your organization.


Use Time Wisely - Procrastination is a common way to avoid responsibility, as it delays dealing with a problem, meaning that someone else may solve it instead. Your colleagues may feel that they can’t rely on you, and this will affect your professional reputation.


You can overcome procrastination by identifying why you do it. Is the task dull? Do you lack information or resources? Or is there some other cause? Once you understand why you put things off, you can take steps to fix the problem.

Next, practice good time management, so that you make time for what’s important. Use tools such as the Urgent/Important Matrix or Action Programs to manage your time more efficiently.


Don't Over Commit - When you take on too much, something will eventually fall through the cracks. That means that you've let someone down.


So, before you agree to a new task, think carefully about your schedule and whether you'll be able to fulfill the task to the best of your ability.


If you're not sure that you can complete it, say "yes" to the person and "no" to the task so that you maintain a strong relationship and a good reputation.


Make Changes - Accountability can open up powerful learning opportunities. When something hasn’t gone to plan, ask for feedback, and look for ways to do things differently in the future.


Reflect on your actions, too: spend some time at the end of each day running through these simple questions: What could I have done differently today? How can I build this change into my job from now on?


In time, you’ll build new skills and better ways to deal with difficult situations.

In some failing organizations, managers who avoid being accountable can get ahead, while those who take responsibility may be ejected if some small thing goes wrong.


If your organization has this type of culture, then it may be time to become accountable, and find a new role in a better organization.



So remember…When you’re personally accountable, you take ownership of what happens as a result of your choices and actions. You don’t blame others or make excuses, and you do what you can to make amends when things go wrong.


To become more accountable, make sure that you're clear about your roles and responsibilities. Be honest with yourself and others, so you can admit when you’re wrong, apologize, and move on.


Make the most of your time, and manage it carefully so that you don't take on too much.


Think carefully about situations where you didn’t take responsibility but should have. These mistakes and failures can be valuable teaching tools, if you have the courage to learn from them.


Expand your knowledge and enlighten your mind with the tools you need to excel in life! Work with a Business and Life Management Coach with over 20 years’ experience empowering people to attain self-defined success in their professional & personal lives. Book a free session at www.denisedema.com today!