Stop Making Excuses: Keep Yourself Accountable

Hey guys, Sabri Subhi here. And in today's video, I want to talk to you about keeping yourself accountable. Now, we're living in pretty uncertain and chaotic times. It's this like, media. There's just so much going on in the world and there are really so much distractions taking place. And as a result of that, like, I'm not trying to downplay anything that's kind of happening in the world right now and the significance of the things that are going on in the world. But really when this stuff starts to happen, you know, what I typically see is people start being easier on themselves and not holding themselves accountable to their goals. And it's just creates an environment where it's so much easier for people to come up with excuses of why they're not going to be able to make their dreams a reality or their goals come into fruition this year because of all these external things that are happening in the environment. But the thing that I found that's really, really important in order for you to be congruent in what you do and what you say and just what you stand for, is to really just keep your word to yourself. Because that's where it all starts, right? Whether it's like, hey, I'm going to go running in the morning and then you wake up in the morning and like it's drizzling a little bit outside or it's extra cold or your gym gears in the wash or whatever it might be, then you start to let those excuses dampen that ambition and that goal that you set the morning before, then the night before, right? And then you just come up with those excuses. And what you've done just there is you've actually started the day by lying to yourself and you haven't kept your word to yourself and you haven't kept yourself accountable. And if you don't keep your own self accountable, if you're running a company and you have a team, how can you expect to keep other people accountable in order for them to hit their KPIs or their goals or whatever the outputs are that they're striving to hit within your organization? And the reality of it is that you can't. So you really want to be your toughest critic and you want to be expecting more of yourself than anybody else could ever expect of you. And the first person that you're making those promises with is yourself. And those little things about like not going for a run or not hitting the gym or not making those sales calls or not calling those disgruntled customers, or not following up on that prospect, or calling back that potential employee, whatever it might be. You know, you really need to make the commitment. And the way that I found the best way to do that is to plan your day one day in advance. So when it comes to like four or five o' clock in the afternoon, for me, I'm planning what it is that I want to do that next day. And I'm talking about everything. What time I want to wake up, when I want to go to bed, either I want to go for a run, either I want to go to the gym, like what I'll be working on, the teams that I'll be meeting with, the conversations that I'll be having. And it's all pre planned. And that's an agreement that I'm making with myself the day before. I'm not trying to make those decisions when I wake up in the morning when maybe my motivations at the lowest. So when I wake up that next day, it's not like, oh, I wonder what I'm going to do today, or let me just do what I feel like doing. No, no, no. I have already dictated exactly what are those things that are important for me to do. And then I need to keep my word to those things. And that's just on a daily level, right? So that's what it looks like every single day. And then beyond that, then you want to zoom out and you want to have a look at how those days make up a week. And you want to set weekly targets and monthly targets and quarterly targets and yearly targets of exactly what it is that you want to do. And what I have found the best way to do that and to keep your word to yourself is to have your activities have your goals measured by activities rather than just outcomes. So the outcome, there's a lot of things that are outside of your control is what you're going to do. But the thing that is inside of your control is the actions that you can take towards those goals. And you want to really start with the goal in mind and then you want to work backwards of all the actions that you're going to need to take in order to hit those goals. And then you want to commit to those daily actions and to those weekly actions. And you don't want to let that little bitch in your head start whispering in your ear and coming up with excuses of why you can't make your goals a reality right now because of everything that's going on in the world. Right? And you know, a Lot of this stuff and external things that are coming at you are simply distractions. And what you really need to get acute and fine tune the ability to separate the signal from the noise and really focus on your goals and the things that are inside your control and the impact that you can have with your actions. And you want to keep yourself ruthlessly accountable to those things and not to come up with excuses or like COVID 19 and we're in this pandemic right now, so I can't do that, right? What is that? That's a lack of resources or something that is in outside of your control. They're not controlling words, right? So the way that you want to look at that situation is like, look, we're in this very testing time right now with this pandemic going on. I am shorting for, I'm falling short of what my goals are. I'm not hitting this, I'm not able to hit those targets, right? So instead of trying to come up with excuses and lower your targets of exactly what it is that's going to be achievable giving this climate, you just need to look at what level of action would I need to take in order to still be able to hit that goal? And that is coming from a place where you're making empowered decisions and your, your focus is still on the goal and you're not coming up with excuses of why you're not going to be able to achieve that, but you're looking at that goal and thinking, okay, there's been some external factors that have impacted the environment in which I'm going to be operating in trying to go out there and make that goal a reality. Now, I've planned for this in my contingency plan. So now let me look at the level of action that I would need to take in order to still be able to hit that goal. And then you want to pour that action those, you want to throw those logs on the fire and you want to increase your activity. You do not want to bring down those targets and what those goals are and make excuses. Because whether it's COVID 19 or it's riots and all this stuff that's going on, there are always going to be external factors that come into play that pose as a boundary in between you and what your goals are. And what most people do and the people that aren't winners is that they really let those boundaries dictate the course of their life because they just allow those excuses to manifest as a real obstacle that is in the way of them hitting those goals, but winners, they always find a way, regardless of what's thrown at them. Now, it may take longer, there may be a lot more effort that it requires in order to hit those goals, but you should never, ever point to anything external that is outside of yourself and look at that as a claim of a lack of resources or challenges for you not being able to hit your goals and to go wherever that you want to go. And it all starts with really keeping yourself accountable, right? And if you're a leader within organization or you're a leader within a team or in any environment, you need to have the highest standards for yourself, because that's what it all comes down to. It's the standards that you hold yourself to as an individual that dictates where you're going to go in life and what it is that you're going to be able to actually make a reality. So, you know, I just wanted to make this video for you because I see that this whirlwind of chaos that is currently taking place and that we're all in as individuals, as business owners, it's really sweeping people up in it, and it's working them into a frenzy. And they don't know which way is right or left or up or down, right, because they're just in this hurricane of noise. And it's really important to book in some time with yourself and to get centered and to focus on what is important, where it is that you're trying to go, what it is that you're trying to achieve and who it is that you're trying to help. And focusing on that, blocking out all the noise and then just looking at that and thinking, okay, well, that's the goal. This is the environment that I'm currently in. How do I need to recalibrate in order to still hit that goal and focus on the main thing and then fight like hell to actually go out there and make a reality and don't come up with excuses. Keep yourself accountable every single day, every single week, every single month, and every single quarter. And if you do that and you don't lower your standards and you keep those standards of excellence where they need to be in order to make your dreams a reality, then no matter what the world throws at you, right, whether it's a pandemic or it's riots or, you know, there's some problems in your family or within your social circles or sibling needs some help, or there's an unknown tragedy that comes up, right, Life's always going to throw these crazy things at you, then you're not going to be quickly slipping in to the victim mentality of this is all happening to you, but you're going to be fully conscious. It's about not what happens to you, but it's about how you react to those things. Recalibrate, find your North Star and keep going out there and getting after it. So I hope wherever you are, whatever's what part of the world you're in, whatever's going on in your individual life right now, that this message helps you and it serves you to get to where you want to be. Hey guys, if you enjoyed this video, make sure that you click the like button and subscribe. We're dropping a video on YouTube every other day, and if you've got any questions about any of the content that I covered in this video, just basically leave a comment with heysubree in the comment section. And every week we're also trying to go through all those questions and get them answered. So go ahead, click subscribe, and we'll see you in the next video.