ACCOUNTABILITY

Organizing regular time with a friend, colleague or mentor who will keep you on track is one of the most powerful techniques you can use to consistently improve your writing, build your business or promote ease in your life.

When you think of accountability you might think about nosy people looking over your shoulder or a boss checking you’re using ‘company time’ appropriately. But accountability is so much more than that.

First and foremost, it’s about you. About what you want to achieve and how you can best go about doing that. We get to make the rules, and it makes sense to make up rules that serve us. You’re after rules that will push you a bit, but are not so rigid you’re destined to fail. The following quote sums up accountability nicely:

Really simply, what Mr Drucker means is… when you know what you’re hoping for, you’ll be able to tell when you’ve got it.

So, what do you want? And how will you know when you’ve got it? This can be tricky if you’re managing multiple expectations – not to mention your own sneaky internal limitations. This is where an Accountability Partner can tip the odds in your favor.

Talking with someone who is dedicated to helping you fully understand what you need to achieve and has the experience to determine the steps to get you there can provide clarity around your outcomes. They will help you reverse engineer what you need to do to get there.

Once you and your AP have made a plan, you can start carrying it out. But don’t forget the quote – if you genuinely want to see improvement, it’s not enough just top make a plan and start blindly following it. It has to be ‘managed.’ Management, where accountability is concerned, requires you [and your AP] to check in on progress.

A great ally will be armed with questions that dig a little deeper than just, “So, how’d it go?” They’ll discuss your wins and losses, look for improvements [which we notoriously fail to see when we are in the thick of it] probe for and provide feedback, provide new techniques and celebrate your success with you.

The gentle pressure we feel to ‘do what we said we’d do’ is a great motivator as well. Not only will you get things done you didn’t previously ‘feel like’ doing, you’ll actually progress toward your writing goals. Whether you want to get your book finished, work out a personalized blogging schedule, learn the grammar rules that have always eluded you, or create and systematize your business back end, I’d love to be your Accountability Partner.

I provide phone or Zoom sessions that can help you uncover what your project needs [tasks, resources etc.] and where there are potential limitations and help you develop strategies to overcome the obstacles. If you’d like more information, Contact Me or help yourself to this free printable you can use with a friend of colleague to get you started.