Be Accountable To Yourself

I was talking with one of my team earlier today and the subject came up of accountability. She shared with me it has taken her all this time to learn what it really takes to grow a business, and that is being accountable to herself.

As I thought of it, I thought that makes TOTAL sense. Think about this… if you want to build a business the top thing you need to do is take action. Many people take the action to start, and many go out and start sharing their business. They talk to lots of people, but they fail to follow up.

They also plan to work on their business. Sometimes they plan to but then the phone rings. It's someone inviting them to a movie, or out to dinner, or maybe a shopping trip. They think about that offer, and say to themselves, I'll work when I get back and go out just for a little while. After all, many work a JOB during the week so growing a business is in the spare time. Yet all too often they never get back to follow up with those they talked to. They spend time making excuses for themselves.

When they start they are all gun ho for a week or so, then, when things come up they need to do, they do not hold themselves accountable. Ask them if they are working their business or how it's going. They will say, fine. Ask them how much time they worked, and they begin backpedaling. They will say, they MEANT to work last week, but they were "tired" or they sneezed once so they must be coming down with a cold. Maybe their wife or husband, "demanded" they come watch a movie. They would have worked their business, but the MALL was calling them, or they thought they would watch one TV show before starting and fell asleep. When they woke it was too late, so they put it off another day. Or else, they could not make that phone call, because they misplaced the number. Then need to clean the office and get "organized". They are afraid to pick up the phone because the person they are calling might not be home, or might be eating, or whatever excuse they tell themselves.

I say if you want to make an excuse ANY will do. Just make a list of all the excuses you make, copy it and give it to your business partner and then when you find your business is not growing, you won't have to waste time making excuses, just say EXCUSE # 10 and move on.

If you ever intend to grow a business, you must be accountable. If you do not hold yourself accountable, you'll never make it in this business or any other. If you had a JOB, and decided to show up when you felt like it, you'd not have a job long.

If you commit to working 10 hours a week on your business, DO IT. Budget your time so you spend 10 PRODUCTIVE hours each week. Productive means talking to prospects about your products or services, and following up. The fortune is in the follow up. If you don't take time to follow up, you will one day run into that person you talked to at a meeting sponsored by someone else or worse yet, one day arrive at a company convention to find that person you "judged" as not interested is the key note speaker and lead distributor.

I've seen much in my career. I've seen MANY people that have told me they didn't follow up because they didn't want to bug anyone, only to later run into that same person and find they joined with someone else. The fortune is in the follow up and consistency. Learn to be accountable first to yourself and watch your business grow.

Speaking for myself, there have been many times over the years that I did NOT feel like working. It happens to everyone, you just get "lazy". I have found when I don't feel like working, I read my commitments and MAKE myself work anyway, and when I do, I'm always glad later I did. I take time off to enjoy life, but I also show up to work my business when I planned and don't let things get in my way. Stay on track, and over time, you'll be glad you did.

Early on you do have to work long and hard to get your business growing. If you want to have a future, it starts and ends with you. NO EXCUSES, just make it happen. Be accountable to yourself and you'll be glad you did.
I've always said you can make money or excuses but never both.

Hope to see you at the top one day.

Diane "AKA MLMBlonde" Walker is a professional network marketer and author who has built her business using the power of the internet. She has also developed MULTIPLE income streams and is committed to helping others reach their dreams. She has a book coming out the in a few months that will give a realistic look at our industry. http://mlmblonde.com


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