Why You Need To Be Accountable
Ok, I admit it. There are situations in life when I just want to
scream. There are times that I'm just so frustrated and stressed
out that all I can do is think about how frustrated and stressed
out I am. When I want to crawl in bed and not wake up until the
situation has cleared itself up and I can get on with my life.
When we are dealing with stressful situations or frustrating
circumstances, it's easy to tell yourself that it's not your
fault these things are happening to you. It's easy to complain
about how tough life is, and how you wish things were different.
Wouldn't it be freeing to know that there is something that you
can do about these types of situations? Wouldn't it be amazing
if in a matter of seconds, you could turn things around and
start changing these frustrating circumstances?
There is a way. It's called being accountable for your
circumstances.
There are two steps to being accountable. Recognizing when your
in victim mode, and then taking action to change your
circumstances.
Let's define accountability. Accountability is being answerable
for one's behavior. The opposite of accountability is victim
behavior.
When you are in victim mode, life happens to you. You feel you
have no control over your circumstances and you may feel
frustrated because things never seem to get better. You find
yourself constantly complaining about the world around you - how
it's not meeting your expectations.
Think about an area of your life where you feel things aren't
going the way you had hoped. Now, ask yourself this "what action
can I take right now that put the control in my hands?" One
thing you can immediately do is recognize that while certain
unpleasant, and frustrating things happen in life, you always
have the ability to take matters into your own hands and create
better circumstances.
For example, are you stuck in a job that is stressful and
depressing? Do you dread going into work each day? Are you
constantly complaining about how awful your boss is, how
unfulfilling your work is and how there is no way out? These are
all behaviors of the victim. In order to get out of victim mode,
ask yourself that simple question: What action can I take, right
now that will put control in my hands?
Immediately, you will feel the frustration and stress ease,
because you will realize that things do not have to stay the way
they are. You can make changes, and you can control the
situation.
The next step is taking action. Continuing to stay stuck in a
bad situation will only bring you more of the same
circumstances. At first, you may only be able to identify small
changes that you can make. But, with every action, you come
closer to making big changes to your situation.
We all fall into victim behavior from time to time. And
sometimes, we stay stuck there longer than we would like to
admit. When you recognize that you are in victim behavior, just
ask yourself What can I do to change this situation and make it
better? And then, take action and take control!