Stay true to you. What does this mean? Personal accountability is the first thing that comes to mind. This might seem contradictory..but you cant go blaming others for your path not working out.
That might be a cruel thing to say. But at the end of the day, its your life and your dreams. This took me years to recognize, especially in business. When negotiating in sales, nothing is final until the contracts are signed and orders are in. You can say oh, they gave me their word. But that isn't enough. Business is business, and its on you to protect your interest so long as you aren't screwing anyone over. Make sure all verbiage and parties are in agreement. Make sure finance, orders, pricing, etc is spelled out. If it is not, and you start to think of other things and say oh they screwed me..its on you for not covering the bases. Say you wanted to get ready for a school in the military, and you failed a test. Its easy to blame the cadre for having it out for you. But do they really? No, its on you for not being prepared forward, backwards, and inside and out.
When I first started in construction sales, I lost a customer and blamed it on pricing, circumstances, and the competition. I failed to realize that I did not build rapport with the project owner, and that after working out pricing on a product to get a large order, I did not get all parties in agreement. I believed that had I dropped the price on a previously purchased product to the competitors price, that I was good. Instead, I looked like we had ripped their head off, and were now backpedaling to save face. I had neglected to sit down with the owner and explain that we had a new supplier, and the new price moving forward was to keep the relationship and be transparent. It was a hard lesson to learn, but I learned it moving forward.
In addition, personal accountability means being prepared to me. Doing the hard work, day in and out when no one is looking to prepare. When you are tired, put that work in. Make sure you are pushing yourself, growing and refining.
With OVROUT, I was in such a rush to get to market, that I didn't check the ink colors when I did my first designs. When they showed up, I didn't realize that the colors on the software would not translate over to the shirts in the same shade. Like an idiot, I took everything off of the site. Embarrassed and mad at myself, I made sure it wouldn't happen again. I started to get samples in of everything before production, wearing it, washing it, and testing it. You might think this sounds common sense. But in the moment it can be easy to get caught up. So I took accountability of it, and made sure to never repeat those mistakes again.
This journey of building your dreams is fun, exciting, and painful at times. But, if you are committed to building your dreams, the journey of personal growth and success begins with self accountability.
More to come...
-Andrew
OVROUT
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