Acceptions

One of the hardest parts about being the best version of ourselves is making consistent good choices. As Darren Hardy says “You make your choices and then your choices make you.” And that’s because choices lead to actions, and actions generate results.

But sometimes, those good choices involve doing things that conflict with the commitments we’ve made, or are outside of our the standards we want to hold ourselves to. Is it reasonable to skip a workout when you’re feeling a little sick? What about if you have a critical project at work? Or if an opportunity pops up that you don’t want to miss?

There’s a lot of grey area… And that’s why I’m making up a word today: “Acception”. An ‘acception’ is an acceptable exception. It’s a choice you make where you’re fully considering the factors at play and decide to skip, reschedule, compromise, or do a smaller version of what you committed to.

It’s a choice to move forward in the direction that deviates from what you would normally want to do, but you feel it is best for you.

It’s an exception that is being made for the right reasons.

And here’s why you need to be really thoughtful when it’s acceptable to make an exception: Our minds are constantly trying to convince us to make exceptions to the rule. That it’s okay to not do this or follow through on that this one time, but those decisions are often motivated by the wrong things and it can become a a slippery slope.

The tricky part about this process is knowing when you mean it. Your mind will give you reasons and excuses, and it might seem like it’s acceptable to make an exception, but is it really? And especially when you’re trying to determine what you authentically think about something in the moment, your rational thinking is being biased by the emotions and context of the here and now, and you can convince yourself that any choice is logical.

That means, the only way to know if something is truly an ‘acception’, an acceptable exception, is upon reflection. When you are removed from the moment of the decision and you reflect on the choice you made, the truth comes out. And it’s the reason why getting feedback and reviewing your performance is so critical. Without taking a pause to think it through, you don’t get any clearer on what your values are, what your tolerances are, what are acceptable exceptions, and it leaves your decision making up to chance.

To get this idea working for you, my recommendation is that you implement your own daily performance tracking system so that you can start seeing the truth of your choices, and tap into your next level of self-discipline as a result.