There are many reasons quoted for why new businesses fail - the economy, the product, the system - the list goes on and on. But there is something that is more important that all of these - something that will make the difference between success and failure every single time, yet you rarely hear anyone quoting this as their reason to fail. If you can master being accountable for your own success - you just took the biggest step towards being successful of them all!



So how do you go about being accountable? Well - I'll get to that in a moment, but first let's take a closer look at how this typically plays out. Let me give you an example - we'll call him Mark. I used to work with Mark in engineering, and he was absolutely first rate at repairing equipment of all shapes and sizes. No matter what the problem, he would work it out - and very committed too - no start time was too early, no finish time was too late. Mark got the job done!

Now you'd think that with an attitude like that, Mark simply could not fail if he set out on his own - but that just wasn't true. Actually, this was not Mark's first job - he had been a model employee several times, even though he had started his own business more than once. Now why would a motivated, hungry individual end up like that each time?

Mark always ended up working for someone else because of his habits. We all have habits - in fact by the time you are an adult, your habits pretty much take you through the day! Which side of the road to drive on, how to get to work, what to do there, what time to go home - and so on. In fact, if we have to do something which is not a habit, it can be quite a challenge.

Here you are, ready to start out on your own, in your own business! You've done your research, you've picked out the absolute best system out there, you've determined your budget - in other words, you've done everything you should do to set things up. Now it's time to get into action - and now the old habits come rushing back in. This is where being accountable for your success becomes vitally important! If you are not accountable for your actions, then you will let yourself off the hook every time - this is the same reason that so many diets fail - people just cannot resist that cream cake and there is no accountability. In your business - you will let things slip, unless there is something to stop you.

Understand - success is not one single, massive decision - and neither is failure. Success is a series of small, good decisions made every day over a period of time - failure is a series of small, bad decisions made every day. Like "shall I place some more ads, or go watch TV", or "I could invest this money into my business, but I really want that big screen TV this month".

Now you get the importance of this - here's how you set yourself up for success:

Firstly, set some goals. I don't mean your long term goals and dreams here - I'm talking about small, measurable, daily goals that are totally under your control. For example - placing 10 ads per day would be a good goal. Not a goal of how many people will respond - that's not in your control, but you absolutely are in control of how many ads you place!

Secondly - write these goals down - I have a spreadsheet that I open every time I sit down to work my business with my daily goals on it - so if it happens to be Thursday, then I need to write a new article.

Thirdly - get someone else involved. This is the accountability bit! Ask your mentor, or your spouse, or a friend - or you could just display your targets prominently - where everyone can see what you have and have not done. Above all - you cannot afford to give yourself an out here!

Fourth - work this for a reasonable time. I had one guy tell me that he had the afternoon off next Thursday and he was going to work his business then to see if it would work out or not... Might sound crazy, but too many of us are looking for instant results - work your plan for 90 days, see where you are, make changes where you need to and then repeat.