Who Is Responsible For Your Results?

Posted on March 16, 2017 by David Kelly, One of Thousands of Business Coaches on Noomii.

We are always telling our clients and audiences that they’re responsible. 100% responsible. Good, bad, or ugly you are 100% responsible for your results. Often, people dodge responsibility for their results. Here are some thoughts on how to accept responsibility, and learn from your actions.

I’m Lucky

We hear this when things are going great. For whatever reason many people simply don’t desire to take credit for the good things happening in their life or business. Instead, some claim luck, serendipity, timing, being blessed or some other influence outside of their own plans and efforts. It’s important to accept responsibility for your wins. You did that. You caused that. You made your own luck and took the blessings you may have and acted upon them. Look at exactly what you did. Examine your personal responsibility in driving a fantastic outcome. Define all the actions you took. The failed paths, the conversations and negotiations. The demographics and characteristics of the other businesses, clients, or partners involved in the success. Really audit or debrief what happened. Build upon the success. Replicate what worked. Choose to spend more time / money / effort duplicating the partners, actions, efforts, and plans that helped you achieve the desired result. Learn from the wins and apply that learning to obtain more wins.

I Blame ‘X’

Victim status, the blame game, and a general lack of anything resembling personal accountability persist when plans go awry. My Partner isn’t doing his/her job. My employees suck. Prospects just don’t get ‘it’ – whatever ‘it’ is. The economy is terrible. Competition is driving down prices. These are every day excuses that otherwise exceptional people make for why they’re not achieving their visions and goals. Whenever you find yourself playing victim or blaming someone else; as yourself this powerful question: “What positive impact could I have made that would have made a difference to the outcome?” Here’s another one: “What did I learn, that moving forward I can own and make a personal difference in improving for my next opportunity?” Mistakes and failures are inevitable. Setbacks happen. What distinguishes the truly successful from the struggling masses is the ability to own failure, make it a positive, learn from it, course correct, and move on to better outcomes in the very near future. If you remain a victim you can never win; because the results are out of your control.

So celebrate your victories, learn from your setbacks, and take ownership of every result you obtain. Good, bad, or ugly; your results are yours and yours alone. Face facts. Tell yourself the truth. Gain clarity on your specific contribution to your results to better duplicate success, and to turn failures into lessons leading to success. Which wins have you shrugged off as “luck”? Which setbacks have you decided are beyond your control? Make a list and tackle personal accountability head on.