Would you say that you take calculated risks? Are you able to take these risks with minimal discomfort? If you said yes, then great – you’re already ahead of the game. However, if you don’t feel at least a little at ease with taking risks to further your progress (whether for your life in general, your family, your career, etc.), you may need to work on your personal accountability some more.
On the other side of risk is reward. Do you believe that what you’re doing will succeed? If it doesn’t, do you still believe in the idea or the principal and stand by it even if it doesn’t do well? Do you accept praise for a job well done even though you didn’t believe in the idea or task? How do you feel about that? Do you assign blame when things don’t go as well as you’d hoped?
There is an idea that has been growing over the last couple of generations that seems to be stunting society’s growth. That is the idea that, even when something is our fault, it isn’t really our fault. Making excuses or citing justifications seems to have become a very popular way for people to justify not trying for more, not taking risks, not working toward their dreams.
And who can blame anyone for that? It’s easier not to shoulder the blame for yourself if things don’t work out the way you wanted.
But who gets to claim that blame when things do work out?
The fact is that no one can predict the future. You may not know how things will work out, but if you have an idea, a plan, a course of action that will get you closer to your goals, wouldn’t you want to claim the blame if it works out? Sure, the alternative may be that it doesn’t work out… but what if it does? A wishy-washy attitude during the journey to it working out won’t inspire much trust or faith, from your people or from yourself.
This brings me to one very important aspect of personal accountability: trust in yourself. Do you trust your ideas to be sound, logical, inspired, and effective? If not, then why not? Do you have faith in your skills, your knowledge, your abilities? Do you believe in your ability to learn new things and master them over time?
How to Claim the Blame and Empower Yourself
Once again, as with so many different aspects of mindfulness, this is internal work. The power you have within your mind, emotions, and thoughts is incredible; however, tapping into that power can be scary. Some of these steps may need a little more effort than others, but this is a basic guide to claim your blame for the good and the bad and allow that new perspective to empower you in your life and career.
1. Realize that ‘blame’ doesn’t always have to be a bad thing. While taking the blame for the bad things might not feel so great, being recognized as the type of person who sees things through, is willing to take calculated risks, and knows that one failure isn’t going to make the earth implode will give you more confidence as well as inspiring more confidence from others.
2. Blaming others and outside circumstances for your shortcomings is like a safety net built out of fear. Most people don’t want to take on the pressure of ‘accountability no matter what,’ so they build a false sense of security. No matter how sturdy you think your safety net is, there’s a whole world out there operating without one. Also, this supposed safety net serves a double-purpose… it’s a trap. Sooner or later, this safety net you’ve built will need to serve its purpose, but you’ll likely be so focused on building your life over this net that it turns into a cage. You won’t go where there is no net, so you severely limit your abilities, your drive, and your faith in yourself. And then what if the net breaks anyway? The power lies in you and your abilities, not in the net.
3. Remember not to try to fix the past. So, you’ve decided to take responsibility and you’ve begun moving forward with certain projects or activities that take you out of your comfort zone. What if one of those projects doesn’t work out the way you were hoping? Inevitably, people will look back and evaluate; after all, hindsight is always 20/20, right? It’s easy to look back on the entire process and find things that could’ve been done better. And what good does that do for anyone? Unless you’ve invented a time machine or found a wormhole in your basement, there’s absolutely no point in rehashing the past. Focus on the present, on solving what you can, and moving forward from there with a new or revised plan of action.
As a mindful leader, your mindset and responsibility will be directly reflected in how your people perceive you as well as how much faith they have in your methods of getting things done. The more you trust yourself and take responsibility for things that happen, good or bad, the more faith everyone else will have in you, too. Are you ready to empower yourself? Because it truly is up to you.
As always, keep leading mindfully and we’ll see you next week here on the Mindful Leader Blog.
