I’m starting down a new path. I’ve talked about it for years, but now is the time to step out and do as luck would have it. Yes. I’m finally putting my book ideas into motion. Hence, I’ve registered with a process to help me iron out the difficulties, layout a plan (vision, business, writing, production), and connect to an accountability partner to keep me focused.
It’s within myself, because this is how I often work, to tackle the job all by myself. It’s doable. We may think we’ve tried and failed, but it was Edison who said he never failed, only discovered ways that would not work. You may not need much help or guidance. Asking questions and following the answers brings about your success.
However, the production of books has shifted from big to small publishing companies. You can now be the publisher. Many books sold through online stores come from a demand approach. They get printed only when the demand is there to buy them. Technology has changed so rapidly! No more warehouses and unopened boxes of books!
Electronic books are my mainstay. It’s easier to carry my library with me. I’ve adapted very well to reading on my electronic devices. I seldom mark up a book, fold the corners of pages, or worry about where I left my latest tome.
If I know something about myself, there is only so much attention span available as I age. My goals and breadth of reach are huge. Adding a new feature to my schedule, I have found that it’s easier if someone is keeping me accountable for my next step.
How Do You Stay Accountable?
Hire an accountability partner!
My church gave me seed money as a pastor’s appreciation gift. It opened the door to look for the best way to get my book into a reader’s hands. My blogs will only reach so many. Though I try to focus on a quick read (5-7 minutes), I understand that life gets in the way of so much. And, there are still many who prefer to read a book than peruse a blog.
I’ll share about my accountability partner later, but they are a team of folks who have expertise down the path. Coaches, mentors, road mappers, technology helpers…an endless list, it seems. In reality, they work in concert to get me to my goal. Produce a Book!
Hiring someone to keep you accountable only works if you accept your role.
Your partner is there to keep the big picture in mind, notice the stumbling areas, and then help you overcome your hurdles. You do the work. They know the way. You follow their leadership. They get to see where you need help the most and let you fly in the areas where you are successful.
Your relationship is not with them as your boss once was, or still is, to you. They are your partner, walking with you through your valleys and celebrating the mountain peaks.
Along the way, they learn their role better because every one of “us” is different. We help each other!
Wait! This Is Life!
None of us are self-made success stories. We got to our current place from many helpers and back-stabbers. Some want our success, and others want to see us fall. We learn who to trust. Our pathway becomes littered with “what ifs” and “if only’s.”
Name someone who helped you the most. Can you characterize those helpers with words and phrases that show you what you truly need? Call them your friend, mentor, coach, teacher, pastor, or even spouse. They have characteristics that fit into your life at the appropriate time and learn how to float on the edges of your existence until you need them.
As a manager, boss, team leader, pastor, parent, or friend, I’ve learned how to wait until someone needs me before I offer advice. Well. Most of the time. Sometimes you put out a hand to prevent potential failure, and other times you wait to pick up the pieces after the tumble happens.
I get better at this as I get older!
What’s Your Best Role
Often we look backward at life to see our successes and failures. Weeding through the bog, we attempt to note the achievements, document what made the success, and then replicate the action forward.
It doesn’t always work this way.
Sometimes you trip into success, and other times you are thrust into life, flailing and thrashing about until you find your footing. You find success in helping others. You learn the process cannot be duplicated. However, if you are wise, you remember those things that can help others from your successes and failures.
What is your best role in life? Become an accountability partner to those who need you. Don’t rush in. Just be available. Be what you are and not what you are not.
We All Need Accountability: To be an accountability partner, "…be what you are, and not what you are not…" You help others from who you are and not where you can never be. #IIITBIIUTM Share on XSince we are in the week of Christmas, think about it like this:
Jesus did not come to stay,
He came to start the flow
If it is to be, it is up to me
As He gives me my call
Had he stayed
We would still be waiting on Him
To do it all while we watch from the side.
#IIITBIIUTM
As he reached his ending time in the flesh, Jesus commissioned his followers to the future:
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Matthew 28:18-20 NKJV
If It Is To Be, It Is Up To Me!