Being accountable means making positive choices.

When you are accountable, you are making a choice. The key is to be sure you are making a purposeful choice that you understand the impact that your choice can have on you, your coworkers, your family, your community. You understand that accountability extends beyond just you. There is absolutely no reason to make your choices anything but positive ones.

If you’re making a choice and you know that choice will negatively impact someone else, don’t do it. It really is that simple.

Here is a quick and final story to illustrate what I’m talking about.

When I was in London, a few of us wanted to get together for dinner. One of the people in our group had a craving for Italian. We asked the hotel’s concierge for a recommendation of a good Italian restaurant and off we went.

After being seated, ordering drinks and chatting for a few minutes, we looked at our menus. Not an Italian dish in sight, all the choices were Asian. Apparently, there were two restaurants with the same name, owned by the same company, but one served Italian and one served Asian.

The concierge had mistakenly given us the address of the Asian restaurant.

Here is the thing. We could have paid for our drinks and left. We could have stayed and complained about having to eat Asian food instead of Italian. We could have blamed the concierge and disparaged him all night.

Instead, we made a choice—a choice to shrug our shoulders, order Asian food, and have a relaxing and enjoyable dinner. And you know what? The food was outstanding and I had one of the best dining experiences.

The next time you are facing a choice, make it a positive one even if that means being spontaneous.