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I’m having a little accountability issue. As in, I have none. I have a lot of goals, not just in my career, but also in my personal life, my finances and my health. As I’ve struggled to regain my footing after falling in love, I’ve come to find my real issue is now that I simply lack the motivation to accomplish something on a day-to-day basis, and that daily action is critical to the fulfillment of larger goals.
I know one thing to be true when it comes to setting goals and achieving them: the most surefire method is to chip away at it one step at a time. Daily action is necessary. If you want to train to run a marathon, you’ve got to actually put your shoes on and go for a run. If you want to pay off your credit cards, you cannot charge anything to them today. I prefer to live one day at a time this way. When I start to use the word “tomorrow,” I get myself into a world of trouble. I won’t accomplish much with “I’ll run tomorrow” or “I’ll stop using my credit card tomorrow.” This method of goal procrastination will leave you stranded. You just need to start.
Enter accountability. Now that you’ve decided to go through with the daily action method you could use a little reinforcement. I used to get this through Guy I Was Seeing. Though we’re still friends, I don’t get to talk to him as much as I used to. Read more about what an accountability partner can do for you here.
What happens if you can’t find an accountability partner or group? Or if you’re the only one who ever does anything in said partnership/group? I’m not sure, but I’m taking a stab with my blog. Yep, you guys are now my accountability partners. I find it hard to make excuses to you all… mostly because my lame excuses look really bad in print. That, and I’ve sworn to be as honest and as transparent as possible.
I know I won’t meet all of my goals 100 percent of the time, but the nice thing about accountability partners is not the negative pressure – it’s the positive pressure. It’s reassuring to think you guys know what my goals are, what I’m doing to get there, and that you get to see the results when I do what I say and when I don’t. It might be corny and a little arrogant, but for some reason I have the feeling that you guys have my back.
All mushiness aside, my monthly accountability posts will basically have a “where I’m at” theme. I’ll review my goals, what I’ve done, what I haven’t done and what I plan to do. The areas in which I will be accountable are broad: physical (exercise, health, diet), relationships (family, significant other, friends), career (job, entrepreneurship), financial (credit, savings), spirituality (meditation, sobriety), general (emotion, mood, life goals).
I realize that not everyone wants to read about me, me, me, but my hope is that my transparency in these things will allow people to see what really works… and what really doesn’t. I’ll be posting the first one tomorrow.
How do you stay accountable? How do you reach your goals, little and big?
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Comments
07.24.08
If more people were transparent in these aspects in their life, then they might get some worthwhile feedback and advice from others with more experience.
It's pretty arrogant to think that people ahead of me in life (career, relationships, sobriety, etc) don't have something to contribute. I need to take their experience at face value, if not more. After all, a smart man learns from his mistakes, but a wise man learns from OTHER's mistakes.
07.24.08
@Norcross: The sheer act of honesty alone usually gets me where I need to be - a little more humble. Being able to say, "Here's what I'm doing and it doesn't seem to be working. Does anyone know a better way?" has done a lot for me. People who have been there have a lot of great advice, and when you are on the right track, they'll reassure you that you're doing exactly what you ought to be.
07.24.08
Thanks, for letting us in on your goals, for being a role model for accountability, for being honest (as Penolope always says) so we know even cool people still have goals they're working on/struggling with. I was thinking recently that I'd lost a lot of my accountability when I changed jobs last year, as my new colleagues aren't nearly as critical (in a good way?) as my former ones were. My family tend to "just" be supportive, without really motivating me ... I think I need more "tough love." I'm (still?) trying to figure out my own (new?) goals (relationships, exercise, entrepreneurship, savings, meditation, mood, etc.) but I'm always happy to help others, and thereby, strangely enough, also help me. Thanks, for articulating what I'm sure many are thinking about, one way or another.
07.24.08
This is such an awesome idea, Holly! I'm completely inspired by your honesty and willingness to put yourself out there so you can track your life progress. I'm in a bit of the same boat, feeling a bit floundering and like I've hit a plateau in my life. I may just copycat you and start doing similar on my own blog. :)
I definitely plan to follow your journey, and hopefully I'll be able to provide you with some insight and if nothing else, encouragement to you as you climb the mountain we call life. Thanks for inspiring me today!
07.24.08
@Yvette: Totally feel you on the tough love thing. I just filled out a questionnaire for a life coach and it asked how I could be motivated when stuck. My response? "Shut up and do it, Holly." My mom was a tough love woman and I would frequently call her in college for a serving of get-your-ass-in-gear.
@Marie Williams: Consider yourself tagged! The new post will appear later tonight (subscribe here if you haven't already), and I'll be asking my fellow bloggers to join in.
So if you're reading this, and you want to join in, please do so!
07.24.08
Good stuff- I have my friends and family constantly bugging me about finishing my novel. Sometimes it gets me working, too!
07.24.08
For sure the best way to accomplish a goal is to know yourself well enough to know what does and doesn't work for you.
For one person it may be baby steps, for another it might be a to do list. Once you know yourself, you'll know how to start, how to keep going, and when to stop.
Personally, I need a concrete set of rules, a clear end goal, and a healthy dose of indulgence and fun.
07.24.08
As I am maturing more, I am finding that I need a bit of an external push (a nice way of saying that I need someone/thing to kick my ass every once and a while). Either that or somehow turning whatever goal it is into a competition. I'm looking forward to reading about your journey. Just the bit of external push that I needed.
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