Accountability is the Currency We Use to Earn Trust

Accountability is the currency we use to earn trust. “Lip service” or the idea of all talk without action can lead to trust poverty. So each time I see someone who does what they say they’ll do, the trust bank account increases. Each time I see someone say they’ll do something and then not do it, there’s a withdrawal. The same is true for trust for when that someone is me. The question I ask when gauging if I can trust someone or myself is less about how much is done and more focused on our ability to discern our own capacities and communicate them honestly. If we speak the intention but take no action towards that change we can dispel the credibility we instill in others and in ourselves.

Change is absolutely a challenging pursuit, no matter how small. The work comes with being clear enough about what’s sustainable right now. Setting the alarm early yet snoozing it 4 times or delaying a self-imposed deadline will only create a depletion of trust with yourself. So set a realistic alarm and commit to rising with the 2nd snooze at latest.

Set a deadline with more buffer time so you have a better shot at reaching that goal more regularly. Rather than committing to running 5 times a week and then kicking yourself when you run only once on the second week, how about taking a walk after dinner 3 times a week for 3 months? Knowing your capacity and stretching it at a sustainable pace by staying accountable to what you know works is a way to build a culture of trust around you. Its opposite can break down the very fibers that build community and dependability.

Rather than a warning sign against trying to pursue change (which let’s face it, is extremely challenging even on the smallest levels), we can use this perspective to inspire the small-step approach to change.

When you stay in it for longer, right at the edge of your capacity where you feel stretched or flexed, that’s when you slowly change what’s difficult into something much easier -- like your relationship to the morning alarm. And because of that you become more capable of finding ease within more tension and more calm within the chaos.