To create new habits and ones that are long-lasting you need to get the ball rolling and making yourself accountable will make all the difference to your success as you get started.
This however is easier said than done. I know you can all relate to setting a goal and not following through on it. This is generally for a magnitude of reasons but one simple thing that usually could have helped is better accountability.
It’s important when thinking of ways to make yourself accountable that you are honest with yourself and take into account the way you will respond to your accountability measures. It is no good asking your friend to make you accountable if you aren’t going to listen to them or respond to their efforts in helping you.
Making yourself accountable is really about figuring out what is going to make you stick to what you say, whether it’s coming from yourself (internally) or from someone else (externally).
Types of accountability:
- Internal – Setting yourself a goal that you are intrinsically motivated to do. You keep yourself accountable usually because it aligns with your core identity and values.
- External – Setting a goal and having other people or things keep you accountable. This could be friends, family, a professional, fines/penalties, or even a date such as an event.
Examples:
- Schedule your workouts with a friend – no rescheduling
- Set common goals with your spouse to do together
- Be open and tell your friends and family about your goals
- Set penalties or fines (with someone else) for when you don’t do what you set out. Just make sure they are harsh enough to actually make you want to avoid them and that someone else is imposing them.
- Hire a Personal Trainer that can help you with all the above
A great book I’d recommend:
Author Gretchen Rubin writes in her book ‘The Four Tendencies’ about how you and other people respond to expectations; both internal and external. This is a fantastic book that can really help you discover your tendencies towards expectations and accountability and therefore help you become more self-aware and create effective accountability measures.
Take her free quiz here and find out which out of the four tendencies you are HERE.
Nathan Spring
