Accountability

“Accountability is the glue that ties commitment to the results.” ~ Bob Proctor

If you want to accomplish your goals, find a way to hold yourself accountable, preferably to someone else. Think about professional athletes and other top performers. They are accountable to a coach and don’t want to let others down, especially fellow teammates.

Retired Navy Seals Trainer, best selling author, and founder of SealFit, Mark Divine says we are capable of 20x more than we think we can do! But to get to 20x we need accountability. In an interview with Mark, Ramit Sethi mentioned a time when he wanted to stop during a workout. His personal trainer ADDED weights and pushed him to do more. Guess what? He did it!

One of the main reasons I created this blog is to hold myself accountable for writing a legacy book that will hopefully help my grandchildren (and anyone else paying attention) define what it means to live a rich life and do it.

Of course being accountable to ourselves is ideal, but think about it. If you don’t feel like going to the gym, do you still go if you know no one is there waiting for you and no one will complain if you wait and do it tomorrow, the next day, or Monday? Would you go to work on time or at all on perfect sunny days (or cold, rainy days when you would rather snuggle in a cozy warm bed) if you weren’t accountable to someone other than yourself?

As I think about my life over the past half century, I realize that I accomplished the most when I was accountable to someone else. At one point, I got up at 3 a.m. and worked out with my best friend. I would have never done that on my own! I showed up consistently without excuses to lead my water aerobics class every day because I knew the group of seniors counted on me and I didn’t want to let them down. I published my Break the Cycle anthology by the deadline because I tied it in with an annual charity event and group of other writers.

Accountability helps me push through procrastination and stop making excuses to cover up for my inner critic that would rather I hang out in the comfort zone which is actually not a comfortable place for anyone with ambitions.

To hold myself accountable and overcome self-limiting behavior, I convince myself that it is my moral obligation to help others by sharing my unique gifts, stories, training, and experiences. Helping others is a powerful motivator to hold yourself accountable for doing the things you want and need to do.

If you want to accomplish your goals and live the life of your dreams, accountability will help you. I think that is why we see so many 30, 60, 90 Day Challenges, life coaches, personal trainers, mentors, and accountability apps such as Asana, My Fitness Pal, and Stickk popping up everywhere. We know how distracting the Internet and our busy lives can be. Accountability can help us stay focused and achieve our goals. 

Personal development pioneer Bob Proctor suggests using a M.A.P. to stay accountable.

Accountability is one of the best ways I can think of to rise above mediocrity and do the things we know we need to do to reach our full potential and live a rich life!