David A. Pancost

When Baby Steps Fail

Sarah Robinson inspired me to think in this direction with her recent post on What do I do Next?

In that post she recommends that when you don’t know what to do, do something. Her point was that movement is better than no movement, action is better than no action.

Though I generally agree with that, I do think it helps to take a few minutes and think before you act.

Ayn Rand maintained that “If you don’t know, the thing to do is not to get scared, but to learn.”

With this I absolutely agree. Knowledge is power. The question that leaves us with is if you don’t know, how do you learn?

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Accountability the Way It Should Be

Tuesday we talked about the dark side of accountability. How it can be misused and create an atmosphere of fear, guilt and apprehension.

When done right, however, an accountability relationship can produce very positive results and can be a source of great blessing.

The most important thing you must always keep in mind is that you are dealing with a fellow human being and respectful conduct is paramount. Even in an employer to employee relationship, there is never, ever any reason to treat anyone with disrespect.

Accountability should never be used as a stick. It’s sole purpose is to assist, to guide, to encourage someone through the difficulties that inevitably arise when they attempt to reach a goal. Accountability should always seek to build up.

With this perspective in mind lets look at what it takes to build a positive accountability relationship.

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Accountability: The Dark Side

What do you think of when you hear the word accountability? What images come to mind? For you is it a positive or negative word? Does it raise positive or negative images?

Back when I lived in Tucson, I was a member of a large evangelical church. Within that church there were a number of members who were also a part of an organization that emphasized evangelism and discipleship. There goal was to attempt to convert others to follow Christ and once converted mentor them in their view of a Christian lifestyle.

Now I want to be clear. I have nothing bad to say about the organization. I had deep respect for many of it’s members. I did disagree with some of it’s “tactics” as a matter of preference, but as a whole I didn’t see much to complain about. They were respectful of others, weren’t obnoxious in their efforts, didn’t attempt to force their beliefs down anyones throat, and believed in doing good where ever possible.

There was one area, however, where I did see some individual abuses and that centered around the concept of accountability.

One of the things they emphasized in their mentoring was holding the new convert accountable to following their system of discipleship. I saw some problems with how certain individuals interpreted and acted out the concept of accountability. The way these individuals approached it had some definite negative effects.

I’ve also seen the same negative approaches toward accountability in the business realm as well.

Here’s what I mean.

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No One Ever Does It Alone

We’ve all seen them. We often admire them. We’ve even paid to see them.

What am I talking about? I’m talking about the Lone Wolf Heroes. You know, characters in movies played by guys like Clint Eastwood, Bruce Willis, and Vin Diesel. Characters that always buck the system, rise up and use their own unorthodox ways to catch the bad guys and bring them to justice. Usually involving lots of explosions, car chases, gun play and loud noises.

The Lone Wolf heroes. They keep us safe from world destroying events. They strike terror in the hearts of the bad guys. They bend the rules and always come out on top.

The only problem with them is that they are pure fantasy.

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A Needed Reminder

The other day I was in a conversation with a good friend where she asked me how I was planning on monetizing what I was doing with this site. I told her monetization wasn’t uppermost in my thinking. I really just wanted to inspire people to aspire to bigger things in their lives.

She then reminded me of a very simple concept. No one can continuously give forever. If you don’t take care of yourself, you will eventually run out of the things you need in order to effectively help others. She reminded me that taking care of myself will allow me to expand the circle of people I can eventually help.

I’ve known this for a while, and believe it wholeheartedly. I just hadn’t thought about applying it to what I’m doing here. I appreciated the reminder, very much.

The conversation got me to thinking about the difference between altruism and benevolence and the negative impact one has over the other.

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It’s Never Too Late, Ever

A few days ago I had a conversation with a friend of mine in which we were discussing the passing of Elizabeth Taylor. We were lamenting the end of an era. We were both saddened by the fact the most of the old-time Hollywood stars were gone.

This, of course, lead to a conversation reminiscing about the movies and tv shows we grew up with. This, in turn, lead to us both laughing and whining, “I’m getting way too old.”

Aging is inevitable. It creeps up on you. One day you suddenly notice that you have some grey in your hair or a wrinkle that wasn’t there before. Then comes the traditional onset of panic as we realize that life is moving on and we haven’t much time left.

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The Power in Tiny

Review: One Small Step Can Change Your Life – The Kaizen Way
Author: Robert Maurer, Ph.D.
Publisher: Working Man Publishing, New York
ISBN: 0-7611-2923-5
Amazon price: $12.21
Kindle edition: $9.32

I ran across this book at our local library the other day, and I’m glad I did.

I often talk about baby steps. I have a firm belief that the best way to accomplish large and intimidating goals is to break them down to ridiculously small, simple steps and do them one at a time. Eventually, if you take enough of them you’ll reach the goal, often before you even realize it.

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What A Good Thriller Novel Can Teach You About Living the Life of Your Dreams

I love to read a great thriller. It can keep you on the edge of your seat while you read about how the hero constantly faces down impossible odds.

One of my favorite thriller writers was Robert Ludlum. His best novel, in my opinion, is “The Bourne Identity”. It’s a great read that barely gives you a break. Ludlum had a gift for writing intense thrillers.

What can I say? I’m addicted. I simply can’t resist a good thriller. In fact I’m trying my hand at writing one myself. (More on that sometime way later).

Because I’ve been thinking a lot lately about thrillers and because I’m always thinking about how to live the life you truly want, I’ve begun to see some parallels between the two. Today I thought I’d share some of my observations.

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Got Clarity? (Conclusion)

So you see the benefits of making a clear commitment to a specific direction in your life. You’ve looked at your history and major influences and listed the lessons learned. You’ve listened to your emotions and identified your deepest values. You’ve made a list of your natural talents and activities that you love doing.

How do you bring all this information together and build a life that is truly worth living? One that lights your fire and gets you out of bed everyday looking for new opportunities to express your very best you.

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Got Clarity? (Part 4)

If you’re new here and want to catch up on this series you can do so by clicking on the following links:

• Part 1 – About why clarity about your life’s direction is so important and the benefits you receive when you are clear about where you want your life to go.
• Part 2 - Looking at your history for clues about what matters most to you
• Part 3 – Listening to your emotions for additional clues toward identifying your deepest values

So you’ve looked at your history and have spent some time listening to your emotions and you’re pretty clear on what matters to you. That’s a good thing, but it’s not enough.

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