The nice thing about being self-employed is that I don’t have a boss. In my experience, one of the most challenging parts of being self-employed, however, is that I don’t have a boss!
For more than 10 years now, I’ve enjoyed the freedom and flexibility of working for myself. And for more than 10 years now, I’ve known that I am the one who has to establish our sales targets and determine our strategic direction as a firm. Once those commitments are created, that also means there really is nobody else who can hold us accountable to our commitments but me.
One of my favorite movie moments of all time is when Sean Connery, with his last breaths, turns to Kevin Costner in “The Untouchables” and asks him, “What are you prepared to do?” It’s a great question for Elliot Ness who supposedly is committed to capturing the infamous Chicago criminal Al Capone. It’s also a great question for any individual – entrepreneurial business owner or other – who wants to hold him or herself accountable to a higher standard than complacency and content-ness. “Whatever will be will be” is definitely one way of living one’s life. I simply offer it isn’t an effective way to achieve greatness, and quite likely isn’t an effective way to get what one wants.
Having integrity requires saying what you will do and then doing exactly that. I do a great job of envisioning lofty aspirations. Sometimes, I even articulate those intentions more clearly with well-defined goals. Until I hold myself accountable to my commitments though, I am not acting with integrity and I likely will not get what I want.
No one else is going to do it but me (you). As much as we may like it to be different, commitment really only comes from oneself. So what are you prepared to do?
