Accountability is not new, it has been in most of our lives through various avenues. For most of us it would come in the form of deadlines at work or school. Consequences are another from of accountability, sometimes they are good and sometimes they are bad. In essence, accountability is what keeps us on track and doing the things that need to be done to get what we want. Whether that be weight loss, fitness, career progression or test scores at university. Accountability is the missing piece that a lot of us need to achieve our goals, and that is why it is your secret weapon.
So how we do go about using it? This can be extremely individual. Some people having a natural sense of accountability that keeps them on track, and sometimes, when trying to make serious changes we need to outsource it. This is where leveraging people close to you can be helpful. Tell them your goals, how you plan to achieve them, and ask them to check in with you and call you out on any excuses you make can be powerful. But prepared, it will also sting. Especially if you have trouble with criticism or feedback. But that emotional response is the magic.
Other forms of accountability can be reminders for yourself. For example, let’s say someone has a fat loss goal, and that goal came about after not being able to play with their child on their birthday. Again, that is a very emotional trigger, but sitting with that pain and remembering how it hit you in that moment can do wonders for that person on their weight loss program. When they start to fall off the wagon, go back to that moment. When they don’t want to do their training session, go back to that moment. When they want to go through drive-through instead of cooking a healthy meal, go back to that feeling. This doesn’t mean that they must be a saint for the rest of their life, its about using the tools to keep you on the path to what you want.
Routines can be another great form of accountability. These habits can set you up for success and overtime become second nature. Like exercising at the same time everyday or meal prepping. Another great example would be saving or investing money. Rather than saving what is left over every week, setting up an automatic transaction that saves the money for you when you get paid takes the thought process out of it.
As you can see, accountability can come in many forms, so it will be very individual as to which best suits you. And for different goals you may need different forms. For example, for a financial goal you may not need any external accountability, but for a fitness goal you may need to commit with a friend so that the goal becomes bigger than you. Ultimately, accountability will be the hidden piece, the secret weapon that will see you achieve any goal you set your mind on.
