Become Accountability Partners.
Note: to understand my passion for this life changing principle, see my blog chapters The Weight Is Over and Making Accountability Count. LM
In the movie “Meet The Parents”, Robert Deniro summed up being an Accountability Partner in just five words…
“I will be watching you.”
Here’s how that humorous visual can help us stay focused here.
First, you must clearly define an important goal and then outline the steps and the timeline you need to achieve it. Since there are countless books on goal setting, I will defer to the experts on that. And if you need a starting place, one of my favorites is Darren Hardy the former publisher of Success Magazine. His brief, but powerful book The Compound Effect really zeros in on how achieving one little goal can change your entire life.
Secondly, you must find someone who you will be verifiably accountable to for achieving your goal. It could be a trusted friend, a coach, mentor or trainer, etc. or anyone you know who will actually hold you to it. It can also be an online group set up for that specific kind of things such as Make Me, Pact, Diet Bet, Stickk, Joe's Goals, Etc.. However, I’d recommend it NOT be your significant other if you both decide to tackle some goals, unless you love that whole idea of sleeping alone on the couch.
Thirdly, you must assign significant positive and/or negative consequences for achieving or not achieving your goal. Unless you can find that guy who paid a million dollars for picture of a potato (yep, that really happened), chances are you aren’t going to find anyone to pay you a bundle for hitting your goal. So you will no doubt have to put money on the line with someone if you want to make money back. However, as Darren Hardy explains in this short video, the research shows you’re chances for real success are far greater if you have negative consequences.
Lastly, you must commit to sharing your results with me via email as I will do with you. It can be as simple as “My goal was to lose 10 pounds in a month and I did it!” to “I lost $20 because I didn’t lose 10 pounds in a month.” The point is simply that we add one more layer of accountability to our commitments.
Two things in closing. 1. Thank you in advance for stretching (which ironically, is one of my daily goals) and agreeing to become an Accountability Partner with me. 2. Even though it’s written on the bottom of every page on this website, I will repeat the Disclaimer that keeps us all safe here: An adventurous life is sometimes risky. And you alone are responsible for your thoughts and actions. So be smart, be safe and be kind.
With that said, good luck and get going! And remember…
“I will be watching you.” :-)
In the movie “Meet The Parents”, Robert Deniro summed up being an Accountability Partner in just five words…
“I will be watching you.”
Here’s how that humorous visual can help us stay focused here.
First, you must clearly define an important goal and then outline the steps and the timeline you need to achieve it. Since there are countless books on goal setting, I will defer to the experts on that. And if you need a starting place, one of my favorites is Darren Hardy the former publisher of Success Magazine. His brief, but powerful book The Compound Effect really zeros in on how achieving one little goal can change your entire life.
Secondly, you must find someone who you will be verifiably accountable to for achieving your goal. It could be a trusted friend, a coach, mentor or trainer, etc. or anyone you know who will actually hold you to it. It can also be an online group set up for that specific kind of things such as Make Me, Pact, Diet Bet, Stickk, Joe's Goals, Etc.. However, I’d recommend it NOT be your significant other if you both decide to tackle some goals, unless you love that whole idea of sleeping alone on the couch.
Thirdly, you must assign significant positive and/or negative consequences for achieving or not achieving your goal. Unless you can find that guy who paid a million dollars for picture of a potato (yep, that really happened), chances are you aren’t going to find anyone to pay you a bundle for hitting your goal. So you will no doubt have to put money on the line with someone if you want to make money back. However, as Darren Hardy explains in this short video, the research shows you’re chances for real success are far greater if you have negative consequences.
Lastly, you must commit to sharing your results with me via email as I will do with you. It can be as simple as “My goal was to lose 10 pounds in a month and I did it!” to “I lost $20 because I didn’t lose 10 pounds in a month.” The point is simply that we add one more layer of accountability to our commitments.
Two things in closing. 1. Thank you in advance for stretching (which ironically, is one of my daily goals) and agreeing to become an Accountability Partner with me. 2. Even though it’s written on the bottom of every page on this website, I will repeat the Disclaimer that keeps us all safe here: An adventurous life is sometimes risky. And you alone are responsible for your thoughts and actions. So be smart, be safe and be kind.
With that said, good luck and get going! And remember…
“I will be watching you.” :-)