Accountability? You don’t want none.

Earlier this week I sat down with someone who I have been doing some coaching with.  They don’t have an actual contract with me, but they come to me for a little coaching from time to time.  This person, like a lot of people, had these big aspirations on January 1 earlier this year.  Like many of us, we all have these big goals and dreams, also known as new years resolutions, that we are going to accomplish in almost every new year.

Side note here:  A good friend of mine told me once.  I was telling him that I was going to start a program in the new year.  He said “That’s cool”. “But what is going to change between now and the new year.”  At this time, it was probably the end of October, kind of like today as I am writing this. I responded and said “nothing”.  He said “Why don’t you start the program now?”  I responded and said “You are right”, “Why not start now.” So I did.

Since that time I have declared that anything that is worth starting in the future, is worth starting now.  Don’t wait.  The time will never be right.  The resources and everything else will not be any better in the future.  The only way to ensure the future is better, is to start making the future better in the present, and you must start now.

Now back to the original discussion: Now I know, and you know, that most people don’t accomplish these goals they set for themselves, or the so-called new years resolutions.  There are a variety of reasons why we don’t.  However, the biggest one is that we don’t hold ourselves accountable for doing so.  And in ninety-nine percent of most cases, I believe that having someone else hold you accountable is critical for your success in accomplishing most goals.

Think about it.  When we set a goal, the chances are, we have never accomplished that goal before.  That is why we set it in the first place.  So for us to now accomplish this goal, a lot has to change.  If you have always over eaten.  Then changing behaviors so you don’t overeat is going to be a challenge at first.  If you have always overspent.  Then changing your spending habits is going to take a while to do.  None of us are very good at quitting anything cold turkey.  It is too hard.

Most of us need some accountability in accomplishing something we have never accomplished.  The chances are, whatever it is we are seeking to do, has been too hard for us in the past.  Which means we quit pursuing it.  We may have tried to do it alone.  And when we do things alone, then we don’t have to share our shortcomings with others.

And lets face it.  You always give yourself a pass, but you never give others a pass.  You are allowed to not use a turn signal to turn off the highway, but others aren’t.  You are allowed to not finish the project, but if someone else does it, they are a, you know what.  We allow ourselves to look at Facebook all day, but if someone else does it, they are lazy. You get the point here.  We give ourselves more slack then we give others.

So let me ask you.  Do you really want some accountability in your life?  Or let me say it another way.  Did you accomplish what you set out to accomplish this year?  If the answer is no.  Why not?  Did you not hold yourself accountable to some kind of measurements and progress?  The chances are, your answers to that question is yes.

If you want to accomplish something that you have never accomplished, then it is going to require you to find a coach , an accountability partner, to help you achieve that of which you have been unable to achieve on your own.

I am no different from you.  We all need accountability in our lives, we just have to be willing to go out and find some.  If we don’t, we will never accomplish what we truly are capable of.

To your success and your future.