In Egypt, right at this moment, President Hosni Mubarek is dealing with something that he’s been dealing with for decades: a radical amount of his people who want to see him drummed out of office. In the past threats, beatings and coercion have dispersed the mob. These tactics he’s already employed and only incurred more wrath and unity from his people, and more fire from the world at large. There will be reform in Cairo, because the whole world is watching and they will not tolerate failure.
What if the whole world were watching you? What if your integrity was in question each and every time you faced a new commitment, even if that commitment were to yourself alone? Do you think if the whole world were watching, that you would have an exaggerated sense of urgency about your mission? Would you be willing to quit, settle for less if you had an audience?
Accountability is being answerable for the success or failures that are your responsibility. You may not have an entire planet’s attention for your personal goals, victories, and defeats, but you can have something just as good. You can choose accountability partners that you truly admire. People who may already see you as a strong person (which is a reputation you want to keep), or people that you hope have success in the same area of their own lives. Accountability partners have access to you, your progress reports, and your goals and offer you advice and encouragement but most importantly accountability.
Accountability means that people do have the ability to observe you. With scrutiny you are judged on your activities. You are vulnerable. Vulnerability in and of itself is scary, and deserves its own blog post. So expose yourself to those who care about you, and let them be your accountability partners. Need some help finding a place to start?
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