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Writer's pictureNick McNaughton

The Accountability Effect

While 3% of the population has written goals, less than 1% write down and review their goals on a daily basis. Even if you are one of the few who write down their goals, do you have accountability systems in place for yourself? It can be quite difficult to have checkpoints in place! Too much judgement, giving up too early, and lowering the standards of the goals as time advances are all factors that come into play for many of us when we keep our goals to ourselves.


PARTNER UP!

As my top tip of advice, I encourage you to find an Accountability Partner. When you share your goals with another human being, whether you like voicing them or not, you are more likely to accomplish them! By putting your goal out there in the universe and telling another person what you would like to tackle, you instinctively become more driven to achieve.

Additionally, finding the right partner is important. Be selective with whom you choose to share your goals. Think of one person who is trustworthy, who cares about you, and who always pushes you to achieve your goals. Ask yourself, who is deserving of helping you? Set a high standard here; not just anyone is deserving of getting a glimpse into your life and goals.


SPECIFIC STRATEGIES

There are many ways to do this, each with varying levels of craziness. One thing I do every day is send my Accountability Partner a daily report containing everything I put in my body and the exercise I performed for that day, if any. Just knowing that someone else will be taking a look at my report helps keep me on track. Additionally, their report encourages me work harder and eat better than them because I am competitive!

One of the biggest motivators is money, whether it’s earning it or losing it. To really curb a bad behavior, one bet to make with a friend could be, “Every time either one of us eats a doughnut, we owe the other person $20.” Similarly, another resource to utilize is stickk.com. On this site you commit to a goal and put cold hard cash on the line. If you do not achieve the goal, the money is gone!

I have even met someone who wrote a check to their least favorite organization in the world, dated it the day after they set to accomplish their goal, and gave it to their Accountability Partner to send to this organization if they did not accomplish their goal. Now this type of action is pretty extreme, but you get the flavor of the concept. You know for yourself what will be most motivating to reach your goal!


WHAT ACCOUNTABILITY PRACTICES ARE YOU DOING TODAY?

Take a minute and think about what you are doing to today be held accountable. Is it a daily calendar? Do you write down your goals and revisit them? Is there someone else in your life pushing you to achieve? The change starts with you, so go get after it today!!

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