The Difference Between Following Through And Accountability

I want to clarify a mistake I see a lot of people making in their self improvement and because of it, they’re not giving themselves enough credit for the progress they’re making. 

What does it mean to be accountable? Believe it or not, it does not mean to do the thing that you said you were going to do. It’s way simpler than that and flips the idea on its head. Most people have an avoidant relationship with accountability because if they didn’t do the thing they were supposed to do, it means they were bad and are disappointing others. 

If you go to the etymology of accountability, you can see the meaning more plainly. To ‘account’ for something is to keep track of it. That’s what accounting is for a business. Then ‘ability’ is to be able to take action on it. When you put that together, accountability is ‘the act of keeping track’. It does not require that you did what you said you were going to do, it makes you produce an answer as to whether you did or didn’t do it. So long as you provide that answer, you are accountable.

The great part about this reframe is that you can then learn so much from times when you didn’t follow through and do what you intended to do. You can diagnose the conditions, context, and circumstances around it to understand what got in the way. Rather than wallowing in disappointment, you can learn from your mistakes and oversights. That’s what generates growth.

You can’t improve something that you aren’t aware isn’t meeting your standard. Follow through is behavioral, accountability is awareness. When you hold yourself accountable it means you make yourself aware of your performance. When someone else holds you accountable, they make sure you’re reflecting on how you did. In that way, accountability borrowed awareness.

That’s not to say that you’re actions don’t matter. Of course they do. You need to follow through if you want to get results. But when you don’t, you can still be accountable and drive positive improvement for your next attempt.

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