Take a look around you, and you may see that we try to avoid this law of life. I say it is a law of life because even when you look at it literally it makes sense and not just that, it proves to hold even when ignored. If you were given a beautiful cake as a birthday gift and you eat it before the celebration day, there will be no cake to display on that day (except you get another one of course). Similarly, if after weighing all the parameters involved (which we seldom do) and even make plan B or C, you cannot run form the consequences of the choices you turn in.

If you decide that marriage (that glorious institution) is for you, whether you understand the basic dynamics of marriage or not, you become subject to the benefits and detriments of marriage. Moreover, marriage does not exempt you from being human and so the normal day to day personal hassles of life are still there for you to deal with too. Now the consequences are showing up, does it mean that you were wrong? Or were you ill-prepared? Solutions abound and these are choices too. Backing out is another viable option – often a duds selection. It could however be a gallant decision to make in some cases. Whichever way the decision pendulum eventually swings, these are also choices and their consequences are waiting for expression.

If you opt for a particular career that you like and have fervor for. Even your deep passion does not exempt you from the consequences of your choice. Maybe you find out that some of the current practices of the profession conflict with your embedding values and philosophies or even the laws of humanity. Choice beckons! What’s the next step? Will you just tag along? Will you back out? Or will you carve out a niche for yourself? Making it known that their way is not necessarily the true one. The choice is still yours, but you can’t eat your cake and still have it.

It is usually at the point of facing the consequences of our choices that we start thinking about the next step to take. This is not the wisest of practices. At those times adrenaline impedes our right reasoning and we are likely to make another choice that we did not really brainstorm adequately whose results we may someday loathe. At other times we simply just don’t think about it and just flow along like a canoe in the fast currents of a river, unaware it may take us down the waterfall. I once met a lady while I was visiting a relative in the hospital. She was admitted for complications relating to aborting a pregnancy. She had to have her second fallopian tubes surgically removed because they got infected during the process. She had previously had an ectopic pregnancy two years before. The irony of it all was that the young man purportedly responsible for this episode of admission was somewhere in his school preparing for his examinations. Your guess is as good as mine, they may not get married and medically, she cannot get pregnant again. Choices! Choices! It pained me deeply because she needn’t go through this situation, however she has to traverse it… and perhaps alone. Notwithstanding, all hope is not lost because there is hope for a man once there is life. Particularly when they are in the right hands.

Leaders, parents, professionals, business owners, associations, whole sates and even countries are making decisions today whose consequences will pay off in one way and may not pay off in other ways. It is important to carefully consider the future of our decisions because sometimes we may have other more rewarding options, but what is gone is just that… GONE. And blaming anybody then would not return what would have been lost.

The next time you are faced with choices, be sure to weigh carefully the different sides of the coin. Then when you eat your cake, maybe you’ll still have it – in your belly.

(This is a subjective thought)

The degree to which we hold ourselves accountable for each aspect of our lives, directly determines our level of empowerment.

Accountability is the foundation of an empowered mindset
The core success skill that all high achievers master is the ability to consistently create specific, determined results. This is the ability to be proactive creators of their future, rather than passive reactionaries. Choosing to be accountable for every aspect of our lives, completely and without reserve, is a significant step towards becoming a master creator of the future. Firmly seated in the mindset of accountability, we realize our potential as designers of our lives.

Working positively with outside forces
Other people, outside events, and even the weather all play a role in our life. Summed up as “outside forces”, this is the World outside of our own mind and body. And these outside forces are all the things that people often hold responsible for their shortfalls, challenges and tragedies. To gain extraordinary results we must take an extraordinary view of our relationship with outside forces. We must not give them the power to sway us from our goals, or to move us away from our chosen direction. While we cannot directly control outside forces, we can influence them by being in clear control of ourselves.

Through our thoughts, words and actions, our intentions can become an undeniable force and our chosen results can be achieved.

We are the origin in our personal creative cycle
When we are aware that are every thought, word and action is a creation we begin to see how results manifest. We are a creation, and we are also creators, and all that we produce manifests in the World. Our intentions are the origin point, the causation in our personal cause and effect cycle. And so we are 100% responsible for our effects, or results. 

This process of Creation can be defined as the following steps:

• Intention: a direction is conceived in our mind
• Thought: a direction is expanded into an idea, then turned into a plan
• Action: steps are taken to implement our plan
• Results: our plan works, or fails and results positive or negative manifest
• Reflection: we examine and understand our results and form new intentions

Keys to applying the accountability principle
To apply the principle of accountability to your life effectively keep the following points in mind:

~ We are empowered to improve any circumstance that we choose to be accountable for
~ We can change our results by changing our intentions, thoughts and actions

I am accountable affirmation
“I choose to be accountable for every result, every circumstance, every event in my life now in the present, in the past and future.”

After recognized my strengths and weaknesses, I will determine the areas that I’m most competent in. I consider myself a well-organized individual. I start my day off at the office by reviewing my agenda. This allows me the opportunity to prioritize what needs to be completed by the end of the day. I’m also able to organize small groups and delegate responsibility when the task at hand demands it. I try to tackle projects in both my personal and business life in such a manner that they can be completed with efficiency. This saves me time and allows me to accomplish more.

I also feel I have good people skills. I come into contact with many individuals that require my attention such as clients, co-workers, and business partners on a daily basis. I consider myself a team player. I often provide assistance to fellow employees when they are in a bind. I am appreciated by upper managers for always lending support when needed. I bring enthusiasm to everyone, and I always have the best interest of the company at heart.

Teaching others has always been a strong skill of mine, especially when it comes to leadership, be able to teach and mentor people in many different areas of the management world such as teamwork, planning, prioritize, communication, problem solving, analyzing, decision making, etc. There is a certain sense of satisfaction in knowing that you are able to make others comprehend something that they felt was so foreign. I enjoy educating my children and seeing the glow in their faces when they learn something new. Teaching provides me with a sense of achievement.

Self-discipline is another strength that I possess. When you are dealing with clients or employees who are repeatedly frustrated and taking it out on you, it takes a certain level of restraint not to lose your composure. This trait is also applicable in my personal life where I manage my personal financial properly in order to afford better material items for my children.

One of my greatest personal strength that help me a lot into other areas of my life is persistence, persistence to be good at whatever I do. I set high standards for myself. I believe in doing things well in order to be successful with what I do and with the commitments I make.

Finally, other personal strengths I have that contribute in my professional carrier are: pride in work, goal orientated, effective leadership abilities, and good budgeting and finance abilities. These strengths have allowed me to advance in my professional career without a degree. The work that I produce is a reflection of who I am. I set high standards for my work, and myself. My employer has always been very pleased with the quality and quantity of my work. I am goal-orientated manager. I set goals for myself and I work with my staff to set goals for the department I manage. Effective goals and planning gives everyone a since of purpose and direction. Once a goal is completed, we celebrate the achievement together.

A personal area of weakness for me is writing. I feel it takes me too much time to put a paper together. I really enjoy writing, but when I have a structured outline to follow. Because of this, I’m trying to avoid long writing in my workplace, and when I have to put a memo, or a proposal together it takes me an enormous amount of time and thinking. I feel that what I have in writing does not make sense. I committed to myself to apply more effort in this area what I consider a very important skill to have in my carrier. Now that I decided to continue my college education I will learn from my instructors, books, and classmates to become a more efficient and skilled writer.

Another personal weakness is my vocabulary. Using the correct words and learn more words always has been a challenge. I feel that increasing my vocabulary will help me to grow and advance in my carrier and in my personal life as well. As a manager, a well use of words verbally and in writing is an important part of my day to day.

Personal strength and weaknesses, by identifying these two areas I will be able to plan what to overcome and what to improve even further. It will not be an easy task, but I will handle this with the best of my abilities. Something that I’m confident is that the result will help me to be a better individual and professional, at the same time I will be able to help others around me.

To accomplish something, one should overcome fear. Hence, the need for a plan of action. Here are some suggested steps which one may follow to overcome fear: First, acknowledge that you have a certain fear. Do not deny it. Second, determine its nature and type. Figure out if it is real or imagined and if it is something that is serious or not. If needed, ask another person’s objective view about it. Then, define it: Is it fear of rejection, of success, of failure, of not being good enough, of not having enough, of not being loved, of not being worthy, of heights, of water, or of something else? Third, identify its cause/s. Is it your low self-esteem, your upbringing or culture, an external pressure, a bad experience, etc.?

Fourth, do any or a combination of the following techniques (depending on the nature, type, and causes of your fear as well as your personality, access to some needed resources or services, financial and other conditions):

Visualization, Meditation, or Controlling your mind/imagination. Concentrate on the target results and “experience the feeling of already having/doing them”.

Creating a “vision board” and placing it somewhere where you can see it always. Stick/draw on it some pictures or symbols of the things that you desire to happen if you don’t have fear anymore.

Writing a journal. Divide each entry/page into two. On the left column, jot down your fear & everything related to it (e.g. symptoms, effects, etc.). On the right side, write down the opposite of that fear & all the things you experience with it (e.g., the feeling you have, the impact it has on your routine, etc.). Then, “mentally delete” the entry on the left side and concentrate on the things you wrote on the right column. Celebrate the joy, peace, etc. of experiencing them.

Doing a physical activity. Exercise at the gym, walk for 30 minutes or so, do some gardening or any household chore, play tennis, etc.

Taking deep breaths, relaxing in a comfortable place, temporarily getting out of the situation (”taking a time-out from the situation that creates or brings out the fear), & doing something else which is constructive (e.g. cooking, buying groceries, playing chess, solving crossword puzzles, etc.).

Reading self-help articles/books, watching inspiring shows/movies, attending seminars, visiting web sites which are addressing your needs, or talking about your fear with someone/people you trust and who could help you.

Asking for a professional help from a life coach, therapist, etc.

Designing an action plan and following it seriously until the desired result is achieved.

Following the mentioned steps and applying any one of the cited techniques should be leading towards overcoming one’s fear. For better results, however, it would be wise if he or she would choose a technique which he or she enjoys doing, make sure that it is practical — something that he or she is capable of doing at a reasonable time — given his or her existing condition, apply any technique or a combination of techniques as needed, and consult an authority, when in doubt regarding the technique to be used or the step to do and when fear becomes “life-threatening” or hazardous.

1. Attitude

   This is the most important word to get the results we want.

2. Goals

   You cannot achieve success with knowing what success is.

3. Proactive Mindset

   Don’t wait for things to happen…make them happen.

4. A Winning Look

   It’s simple, winners look like winners. Take an extra moment to look at how you’re dressed, how in shape you are, and how you present yourself to others.

5. Perspective

   See yourself through others eyes. If you have customers, see their needs through their eyes and not your own.

6. Creativity

   Always look for new ways to do old things.

7. Enthusiasm

   Nothing worthwhile was ever accomplished with enthusiasm.

8. Organizational Skills Galore

   Be an over-organizer, you can never be to fanatic about being on-time, knowing where everything is, and keeping your commitments.

9. Persistence

   Never let a setback end the game. Learn from the setback, reevaluate the plan, and move forward.

Successful people aren’t necessarily natural at the above skills, but it takes a conscience application of those skills every single day and every single hour to achieve their success. What’s the best way to start learning and applying those skill sets? Start by taking time with the winners around you. Read about them, take them to lunch, and pick their brains about how they approach life. These could be your friends, family, or someone you haven’t met yet. You’ll start to absorb their personality traits that make them winners.