What causes us not to be accountable?

Throughout our growth years, we’ve learned to be accountable to someone else. As young children, we must do what our parents tell us or punishment might befall us. As students, we must do what our teachers tell us or our grades might be affected. As employees, we must do want our bosses tell us or our jobs might be in jeopardy. Our understanding of being accountable for our actions is driven by our need to comply with the demands of others. No one shows us how to be accountable to ourselves, right?

While lack of training in being accountable to ourselves may be one element, another may be our own resistance to calling ourselves out on the decisions and choices we make. When we avoid being accountable, we make a conscious decision not to do something and then another decision to downplay the importance of not following through.

​Done repeatedly, we develop a habit of convincing ourselves that not doing what we say we will do has no real consequences. This level of avoidance and denial, to the contrary, has real severe consequences on our ability to maintain trust with others and a stable level of conviction within ourselves.