Accountability Through Authenticity

It has been 131 weeks since I started sharing my thoughts on growth and growth mindset. I have opened myself up and shared my journey – the highs, the lows, the wins, and the challenges. I have been forced to face some internal questions and have grown through the learning that I have been open to.

One of the most challenging topics I have found in my journey – which has been my focus since I started – has been to understand and hold myself accountable to my authentic self.

I think for most of us, we struggle at times to understand who we are authentically and then to live that person in each and every scenario. Society can force us to mask the truth and play by the norms created by others for the needs of others.

I have struggled with those masks and conforming to the norms for most of my life. In my book, Leadership Over Loneliness, I talk about the struggle to overcome the pressures others placed on me to be what they needed, not what I wanted.

To be accountable to self takes discipline and intention. To have the fortitude to say no and the acceptance to say yes. Before we can be truly accountable to others, we need to learn to be accountable to ourselves. Holding ourselves to the standard of self. This takes work, reflection, and a willingness to look in the mirror.

I am still a work in progress with this, but as we all are growing I challenge each of us to look in the mirror and not just focus on what we want to be, but understand where and who we are – creating a foundation to build and grow from from the inside out.

How are you winning?