Your Career And Money:

The most uncomfortable feeling I can remember as a young man in business is the feeling of being on the "hot seat" for not having done what I said I was going to do, and feeling compelled to give my boss excuses.

When I matured and ended up in a position where I was responsible for others' actions, I was appalled by subordinates telling me all the marvelous reasons why they hadn't produced the results they had committed to. It then became clear to me that not producing results is a choice we make. The "cruel world" doesn't give us this terrible feeling of discomfort. We do it to ourselves.

Accepting an assignment you can't possible handle is just asking for disaster. Once a commitment is made, however, the only choice you have is to produce the results, or list the reasons why you didn't produce them and suffer the consequences. Choose your commitments carefully. Also choose to produce results.