There is a fine line to cross when it comes to managing your own goals. When things don’t go well, it is very easy to turn a blind eye to what you could do better, to avoid having to make any changes. Then similar mistakes keep happening, and before you know it, everything is spiraling out of control past the point of no return.

But it doesn’t have to be like this. You have the power to stop that spiral if you stay above the line – the line between turning away from the consequences of our decisions and owning them fully.

Below the line, you have Blame, Excuses and Denial – the BED that you will find yourself lying in if you cannot face your own mistakes.

Let’s explore these 3 areas that make us spiral out of control.

Accepting one’s own shortcomings can be an uncomfortable process to have to go through. This is where blame comes in. If you can find a reason why someone or something else is at fault for your problems, that removes your obligation to fix things. Unfortunately, the moment you make your problems someone else’s this also removes your power over them to.

With blame often comes excuses. An excuse is a reason you come up with to justify something you do (or don’t do). When you blame your problems on an outside source, you are giving yourself a reason to not make any changes. And once again, you are relinquishing any control over the situation.

When issues begin to accumulate, you may find yourself in a state of denial. This is where you are aware of the situation you are in, but you are not acknowledging it. A lack of acknowledgement becomes a lack of action. A lack of action becomes a lack of control.

Now let’s look above the line: Ownership, Accountability and Responsibility – the OAR you can use to steer yourself in the right direction.

When you carefully choose how you respond in any given situation, you are taking responsibility. As an individual, you are responsible for the choices you make. In business, you are responsible for the work you do.

When you take responsibility for the results of your work, you take accountability. While responsibility is about how you handle your actions, accountability is about how you handle the consequences. A manager is responsible for the work they do, and accountable for the work their employees do.

When you hold yourself fully responsible and accountable for your decisions and their outcome, you take ownership. It is easy to take ownership for the things you are proud of. It is much harder to own the bad things alongside the good.

We have to challenge the way we’re thinking so we can challenge the way other people are thinking. Results come when we stay above the line. When work gets difficult, we don’t want reasons. We want results.

ActionCOACH provides business owners personal development programmes to help this mindset shift, as well as accountability, to make sure ownership is taken at the right time. This personal development is important alongside business development so both you and your business grow together.

If you’d like more information about our coaching programmes take a look here: https://actioncoach.co.uk/coaches/steve-saunders/programmes/