Accountability

Did you know that the root word of accountability is from the Latin accomptare (to account), which is another form of computare (to calculate) and stems from the verb putare (to reckon)?  These terms were used in money lending practices first developed thousands of years ago in Greece and Rome. When a person borrowed money from either a temple or a merchant, the borrower would then be held responsible for their account with the lender.

What does money lending in ancient Greece have to do with our personal success in today’s world?  Plenty.  Any plans we create to achieve our deepest dreams must be built on a foundation of personal account-ability.  Jack Canfield’s Success Principle #1 is “Take 100% responsibility for your life.” Blaming others (or the economy), complaining, gossiping, playing the victim or allowing others to manipulate us — these low frequency thoughts don’t improve anything!  It’s our very own responses to remarks, events, school assignments, family conflicts or work pressures that result in our present state.

Identify an issue that you’re experiencing right now which causes discomfort or worry.  It can be simple, like how irritating the mosquito bites on my legs are.  Reconstruct in your mind how the problem occurred; in my case, I was weeding a flower bed in the late afternoon.  Now follow this memory back to Why Did This Really Happen?  OK, August is humid in northern Virginia–I know mosquitoes thrive in humid, moist flower beds–and I didn’t put on any repellent.  Ah-ha!  By unconsciously choosing NOT to slather on the bug spray, I created this infernal itching for myself!

When we become accountable for our own choices, we begin thinking higher-frequency thoughts.  Thoughts become actions, so it’s important to know how powerful our thoughts can be.  Consider this poem by the late Edgar A. Guest:

You are the person who has to decide.

Whether you’ll do it or toss it aside;

You are the person who makes up your mind

Whether you’ll lead or will linger behind.

Whether you’ll try for the goal that’s afar,

Or just be contented to stay where you are.

Living in the Present

When it comes to living in the present, nobody does it better than our little Chickadee. Through a process known as neuronal replacement, some small birds like the Chickadee allow neurons containing old information to die, replacing them with new neurons so they can adapt to changes in their environment.  Once a neuron contains a long-term memory, it is permanently altered, and is no longer usable in new memory formation.

Research conducted by Cornell and Rockefeller University shows that Chickadees switch from an insect to a seed diet in the fall, allowing them to replace more neurons, generate new song lyrics, and remember new food caches.

New studies and information by thought leaders like Wayne Dyer, Byron Katie, and Daniel Amen encourage us to change our way of thinking in order to change what (and how) we think. If a small bird can do it, we can too. And no, you don’t have to learn to eat insects or seeds!

5S Your Life!

One of the most powerful Lean tools introduced to the business world through the Toyota Production System is called 5S. Simply put, 5S is set of steps to organize the workplace so that work can be done more efficiently.

Your mom called this cleaning your room.  

When we apply it to our personal life, we can simplify the traditional 5S process into a 3S process of sorting, straightening and sustaining.

First, let’s just work on sorting out anything that is causing waste in your life. Eliminate wasted time by sorting out activities that aren’t helping you have better life balance.

Examples might be too much TV, social media, answering work emails at home or surfing the web while at work, etc.  Clean the house and office top to bottom and get rid of the clutter. Look at your relationships and decide if there are any that are toxic to your health, peace of mind and happiness. Rid yourself of them, or at least reduce the time spent with anyone who isn’t helping you grow. Sort out negative thoughts and negative self talk. Kick it to the curb. Speak to yourself the way you speak to your most cherished loved ones.