The Importance of Accountability

You may be insanely motivated. You may feel like you can take on the entire world and don’t need anybody else’s help.

Or…..

You may want to achieve huge things but have a difficult time following through with taking action.

Regardless of what situation you are in, having some form of accountability is huge in increasing your chances of success and achieving the things you truly want.

Having some form of accountability is important because it will give you that extra bit of motivation when you need it. It will force you to do the things you promised yourself you would do, even when you may have lost hope.

Personally, I have found having accountability partners to have a HUGE impact on me and my ability to achieve the things that I want to do. One example is me in my journey of completing an Ironman. For accountability, I have 3 different mediums, all of which help dramatically. The three things I have that keep me accountable are:

1. My Friend, Gustavo

2. My Coach, Ted

3. All the people I’ve shared my journey with

Down below, I will break down each one of these three accountability types and how they’ve been helpful to me. As you read this, I encourage you to look internally at your own life and reflect on what you want to achieve. Once you have identified what you want to achieve, take these three examples of accountability that I show above and see how you can implement similar techniques to keep you accountable towards achieving what you want.

1. Find Someone to Do It with You
   So first, I have my friend Gustavo. Truly, this journey wouldn’t be the same or possibly even be happening without him. 8 months ago, Gustavo and I decided that we wanted to push ourselves both mentally and physically to levels that we couldn’t even imagine; thus, we signed up to complete an Ironman in one year. Gustavo plays a pivotal part in keeping me accountable, as I know that both of us are going through the same journey together. I know that we joined this together, and I cannot simply back out because I will be letting him down. On top of that, Gustavo and I have weekly calls to discuss how our training is going, work out any problems that we are having, and motivate each other to keep going. Having a friend/family member/loved one complete the same journey alongside you helps significantly.

2. Get an Expert’s Help
   In today’s society, there is so much free information readily available on the internet. The problem that I found is sifting through all that information and organizing it into an easy-to-follow process. By using these free resources, you can eventually achieve the goal you want to. Still, by having an expert/someone who has achieved what you are looking to guide you along every step of the way, the expert will expedite your progress significantly. By having this expert (my coach, Ted) by my side, I know that I am doing all the right things to achieve my goal. I also know that he is watching over me should and if I do not do the work, I am letting him down and ultimately just throwing money down the drain as I am paying him, haha. Get an expert’s help.

3. Share Your Goals
   The last one is about sharing your goals and what you are working towards. Why should you do this? Because if you put it out to the world that you will do something, you are significantly less likely to back out when times get tough. For my situation with the Ironman, I have told thousands of people that I will be completing an Ironman in September 2021. That being said, for me, to flake out would be a catastrophic blow to my reputation as all the things about me completing an Ironman would become a lie. At this point, I am in so deep that there is no turning back. If you cannot find a friend or find/afford an expert (coach) to help you, this method is the best one for you. Put your goals out there on social media. Tell your friends and family members. This will give you extra motivation not to give up when things get tough because you know that people are watching what you are doing and expecting you to complete what you said you would.

In whatever form it may come, accountability will be extremely helpful in guiding you towards success. Times will not always be sunshine and rainbows. Times will get tough. That motivation that you had when you started may fade. When you are in dark places, you need to find that extra bit of motivation to keep going, and that is where accountability comes in. It is not wise to leave your success to chance. Make sure to make your success predictable and have people along the way who won’t let you stay down when you get knocked down. Accountability will be the people/things that help you get up when you get knocked down and will help you achieve your goals and dreams.