It's Not My Fault

                                                    Photo: Courtesy of Pixabay.com

SalesManUp

It’s Not My Fault

“ You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself. That is something you have charge of.” - Jim Rohn

We live in a culture that at times, seems to be deplete of individuals who are willing to take responsibility for their actions. That’s why lawyers enjoy a consistent stream of business. It’s always someone else’s fault. The “blame game” is almost as prevalent as Monopoly. We tend to be like Hans Solo on Star Wars, who seems to repetitively cry out in frustration over his spaceship’s malfunctions, “ It’s not my fault .”

When we fall into the blame cycle, we give someone else power over our lives, and this is not healthy. Personal ownership of our thoughts, words, and actions is true responsibility. Noah Webster writes that being responsible is, “ Liable to account, accountable; answerable...We are responsible for the talents entrusted to us by our Creator...able to discharge an obligation. “ Let’s face it , not many of us like to be accountable to anyone- not even ourselves. Yet, I find that some of the greatest areas of growth in my career as well as my personal life, have resulted from times when I was  accountable and answerable to myself or to others. Everyone answers to someone. It’s similar to establishing a monthly budget, and sitting down at the end of the month to see where the money went. The check book, the credit card statements, and the bank balance sheets don’t lie. Receipts reveal the undeniable truth. What ??? We spent that much money on …….( fill in the blank ) ?

One area of ownership for me, has been learning the daily discipline of recording my diet  in MyFitnessPal. Painful as it sounds, this  can be a revelation when you see with your own eyes what you have shoved into your mouth during the course of a day. For instance, I never realized that a Dairy Queen peanut butter milkshake was a whopping 900 calories, until I snagged one on my drive home one day, and entered it into my app !  Ouch. Oh, it was absolutely delicious, but that’s more calories than some people consume in an entire day ! I never would've come to that realization without some self-accountability. By accepting responsibility for something, we are given the power to change it. Accountability helps us to discover the “ leaks in the ship” , and develop a strategy to make positive changes - especially if we are taking on water and starting to sink !

Bad things occasionally happen to good companies and to good sales reps as well. Manufacturing issues can occur, shipping and freight delays can take place ; or credit problems can raise their ugly head, threatening not only the immediate sale but the long term client relationship as well. I even experienced a scenario one time, when my product samples actually fell out of the courier’s truck in transit, and were lost. Stuff happens.

A couple of years ago, my wife and I purchased a sectional from a well known retail store. After the delivery and installation, we started to notice that the so-called memory cushion was experiencing amnesia. This was a premium piece of furniture purchased at a high-end store, and frankly, we expected better performance from this brand. On contacting the store, my wife explained our situation, and within a few weeks, a replacement sectional was delivered to our home at no cost. This was a good company that ended up shipping a bad product ; but they made it right. They took responsibility with the goal to make the customer happy, and I can promise you that they achieved their objective! Will we go back to shop in that store again ? You bet we will.

I totally get that sometimes things happen that are beyond our control. Duly noted. Those are things that we have to mentally release. Fretting and worrying over things that we cannot control will only make us feel worse, and never change the situation for the better. But when it is within our power to change something for the good, we need to step up and take ownership of it. Whoever said that doing the right thing is easy? It’s not. Someone has to say, “The buck stops here”. Truth will always eventually yields dividends.

Sound character provides the power with which a person may ride the emergencies of life instead of being overwhelmed by them. Failure is… the highway to success. -  Og Mandino