Do you ever get that feeling in the pit of your stomach when you fear that you’re not going to be able to accomplish something that you TOLD others you were going to accomplish?
I had that today.
At my brokerage we have these things called “accountability groups.” They are groups of agents and/or leadership who meet weekly and set goals (ahem) commitments for the activities that we are going to accomplish every week. There are three categories:
- Productive – this relates to business. What specific thing are you going to do that’s going to build your business? Must be actively working to generate new opportunities.
- Personal – this is something you’re going to do in your personal life. Plain and simple. We will burn out fast if we don’t have this. It can be health, self-care, fun, whatever.
- Big Rock – this can be either business or personal. Different people in our organization interpret this in their own ways. Mine is that the big rock is something that you’ve been procrastinating or delaying out of fear, and that you likely won’t get it done if you aren’t accountable to others to make it happen.
So anyway, I reeeeeeeeally like to get my stuff done.
And by that I mean: I reeeeeeeeally don’t like having to sit in front of my group and say that I DIDN’T get a thing done.
Because after all, it was me who got to choose the goals, right? What does it say about me when I claim to be committed to a thing and then don’t follow through with it?
My accountability group meets tomorrow, which means that today is my last day to accomplish my tasks. And I was short on one: the personal one.
My personal goal for this (past) week was to hula-hoop two times.
Seriously. How easy is that?
I have approximately one dozen hula hoops in my home, and the weather in Minneapolis has been beautiful. Yet I got busy, things happened, and by yesterday, I had only done it one time. And I had to get up at 4AM this morning to catch a flight to Hilton Head for a training.
So last night, as I was falling asleep, I was thinking: take the collapsible hoop with you, Constance. Take it with. You can hoop on Sunday afternoon when you arrive. Yes. That will work. Should I get out of bed and write myself a note? Nah, I’ll remember. It’s important.
And what do you think happened?
Of course I forgot it.
So now I’m on the plane, getting mad at myself. And a voice in my head is saying what’s the big deal?! Just tell the group you forgot to bring it. They’ll understand. It’s just a personal goal anyway, it’s not like it’s a big deal.
But then another voice chimed in, and this one was the voice of a(n exceptional) past coach of mine:
Were you truly committed to what you said you would do?
Ouch.
Okay. So now I’m here in this place and I’m like: dang, I gotta find a hula hoop. Let’s consult the google.
And BAM: I find a woman (Jody!) who makes them and leads events right here in town!
Yay!
And THEN I see that she’s gone to off Boulder, Colorado for the summer.
Boo.
And I message her anyway, and ask:
Do you know from whom can I buy a hoop in Hilton Head?
And she goes:
Well nobody sells them but there is my friend who bought several from me and maybe she could loan you one for your visit?
Yay!
And then I’m thinking: where does this lady live? Will she respond to me? I’m a crazy stranger asking to borrow a hula-hoop. That’s weird. And I don’t have a car or a bike and Uber is super-sparse around here. This can’t really work. But please? Maybe it can work?
So I text this friend of Jody’s. (Because I’m too chicken to call a random stranger, even though I do that all the time for my work, how weird is that?)
Can I borrow a hoop? Jody said you might loan me a hoop. I’ll totally bring it back on Wednesday. Also where are you located? I’m on Sand Dollar Ave.
She replies immediately:
I’m at the corner of Sand Dollar and Starfish. Yellow house. Picket fence. Come on over.
It’s ONE BLOCK away from me.
So obviously I go and get the hoop immediately, thank her profusely, and proceed to the beach.
Personal goal for this week: CHECKED OFF!
Yay!
Here’s what I want you to take from this story:
It’s not about patting myself on the back for completing the commitment. The reality is that I left it to the very last minute and there was a real chance that I would not be able to complete it.
What if there had been no Jody? What if there had been no friend of Jody’s? It would have been on me for not planning my time better during the earlier part of the week.
The biggest lesson here is: don’t put things off. That is a recipe for failure.
The second lesson, and the one that makes me smile today, is that if you get into a mindset of commitment, where you’re focused on FINDING A WAY, even if it includes doing uncomfortable things like contacting random strangers, the Universe is very likely to come to your aide, as it did for me today.
So what can the Universe help YOU with?
And what are you waiting for?