So you’ve looked at your goals and realized you need a little help achieving them. There’s nothing wrong with asking for help. No one feels motivated ALL the time. Whether you’re trying to reach personal or professional goals you should have an accountability partner. You know, someone to encourage you and keep you on your toes. We often need that push when things get difficult or don’t go according to plan. With your accountability partner, you check in and keep each other in line when one starts to slack off.
Three ways having accountability partners can help you:
- They help you measure your progress. Your partner will remind you to “do the work”. That’s right. You said you were going to do something by a particular date and your partner is going to check that it’s done. Create little milestones along the way. Did you achieve the goal? Surpass it? Did you even come close?
- They help validate your thoughts or ideas. Your partner will give you a reality check. Bounce your ideas off of someone who can help you make sound decisions. Your partner will help you clarify your goals and offer constructive criticism when needed.
- They keep you responsible. They remind you of your commitment and expect you to honor it. This limits the excuses when you know you have to answer to someone other than yourself. It’s easy to talk yourself into eating that double cheeseburger when you know you really should have a nice salad. Your trainer will be all in your head telling you to back away from that cheeseburger.
When seeking an accountability ,partner, find someone who will challenge, engage, and bring out a sense of accomplishment in you. It may be your spouse, a friend, a colleague, or complete strangers. Wait! Did you say strangers? Yes, I did! Often in online communities you can find some of the best accountability partners. You may have common goals, but have never met before. You connect on social media or via an app and support each other through those means. Let me tell you, it works better when you have someone you’re accountable to.
I’ll give you a personal example. I wanted to change my eating habits and exercise regularly. A friend invited me to one of her online accountability groups where we followed a certain exercise program for a couple of months. Each day we posted when our workout was complete. If we had any challenges or confessions (like you didn’t workout) we posted those, too. There’s always someone there with an encouraging word and a “friendly reminder” to get it in. Even on those days when I felt guilty for eating those cookies and ice cream when I should have had a salad or smoothie for lunch, I still got myself up and worked out. Guess what? Those who checked in regularly tended to see better results with weight and inches lost. That’s just one example. So I challenge you to go out today and find an accountability partner for one goal that you’re working to achieve. After you’ve been with your partner a couple of weeks, leave me a comment here or on my Facebook page and let me know how it’s working out for you.
Until then, continue to F.L.Y.!
