#11 - Fight the Blame Game

Another great method for goal setting and accountability is to use active questions. A similar approach is used in the professional world for work evaluations. Essentially, you respond to a series of questions designed to determine if you are reaching your goals. For example, “did you train today,” “were you on time to practice,” “did you keep your cool during the match,” etc. The problem with all of these goals is that they immediately provide an avenue for shifting blame. “I didn’t train because all of this happened today,” “I didn’t keep my cool today because of something the other player did,” “I was late because there was traffic,” “I didn’t sleep enough because my mom kept giving me chores so my homework wasn’t done till midnight.” All of these responses are shifting the blame to environmental factors—things that happened around us. Ultimately, we are making ourselves victims of our environment. Obviously all of these excuses are lame—if it was truly a priority for you, then you would leave earlier, make time, or not waste time. In order to keep the responsibility on yourself for things you can control, an active question reframes the goal by asking questions like:

[if !supportLists]· [endif]Did I do my best to be on time today?

[if !supportLists]· [endif]Did I do my best to reach my running goal for this week?

[if !supportLists]· [endif]Did I do my best to put in extra time in the weight room?

[if !supportLists]· [endif]Did I do my best to follow my training log to the letter?

[if !supportLists]· [endif]Did I do my best to keep my cool during the game?

[if !supportLists]· [endif]Did I do my best to sleep enough?

[if !supportLists]· [endif]Did I do my best to win the game today?

[if !supportLists]· [endif]Did I do my best in that race/time trial/intervals?

By framing the questions this way, you have to accept responsibility for your results and recognize that if you aren’t willing to accept that responsibility, that goal probably isn’t actually something that’s important to you. After using this system for a while, I guarantee you will be shocked by how often people cite the environment as the cause of their own failures. Obviously there could be massive extenuating circumstances which justify blaming the environment, but who would believe it after hearing every version of “the dog ate my homework?” Why do the same people that would never be late to a job interview regularly show up late to practice yet blame the environment (traffic, so-and-so wasn’t ready to leave on time, etc.)? Obviously getting to practice on time was not a priority for them.

Active questions like this are great to help stay accountable to success cycles and goals from day to day. At the end of each day, ask yourself the “Did I do my best to____” questions. Then give yourself a grade or score (A-F, 1-10, etc.). At the end of the week you can see if you improved!

What goals do you have that would work well using active questions? See which goals from prior days you can re-write using active questions. Make a commitment to stop using environmental factors as excuses—after all, they only hurt your success and reputation.

I’d love to hear what goals you’re working on! Tag @advancingdaily on social media or email us.