We have been inundated with suggestions to occupy lately…whether it is Wall Street or Philadelphia or Chicago...we are encouraged to occupy to show solidarity.

I’m going to encourage another tack on the occupy movement. I am going to suggest that we occupy our actions. I am going to encourage accountability. Because, at the end of the day, if we don’t own or occupy our own actions, we can’t expect accountability from others.

I have recently experienced a very challenging obstacle in the pursuit of a vision for my dental practice. This obstacle left me a blubbering blob of ineffectual gelatin for a day and a half. I threw myself a pity party. The games that I had planned for this party included “Pin the Tail on THAT Guy” and “Tag…YOU’RE IT” and “Red Rover, Red Rover, Just TRY to Come Over”. Not surprisingly, no one came. It turns out that, it really serves no purpose to point fingers and blame. It really serves no purpose to fuel negativity. Very little gets accomplished when embracing negative energy. I needed to repurpose my energy. I needed to give my vision a new look.

I needed to occupy my actions.

At the end of the day, no one really cares who did what to whom and why the other guy is at fault. What really matters when all is said and done is what did you do? How did you handle the adversity? How did you overcome the obstacles that were placed before you? Did you occupy your actions? Because we really only have ourselves to answer to.

So, I took off my pity party hat and I took a deep breath. I refused to let the negative energy that was around me penetrate and alter my vision. I focused on what actions I could take to regain control of my vision. I reset my compass and sought out positive energy from trusted sources. And, despite the change in direction, I see the value in the obstacle.

That’s right…you heard me…I saw value in the obstacle. And it was all because I understood the value in occupying my actions….I understood the value of becoming accountable for my actions only. I stopped finger pointing and blaming. I refocused.

In the pursuit of your goals…of your dreams…of your vision….make sure that you always occupy your actions.

How do you occupy your actions?  Have you struggled with accountability?