Increase Your Success with the Right Accountability Partner

Are you frustrated by not achieving what you want? Have you been less productive than you want to be? Do you have the same goals that you had last year? Then it is time to do it differently! You can be more successful, more productive, more effective and happier when you, “Increase Your Success with the Right Accountability Partner!”

I have had a lot of experience with accountability partners. Some have been fantastic and some have been just okay. I have taught for years how much an accountability partner will increase your amount of success and how the accountability creates momentum and a higher sense of accomplishment toward your goal. I have even matched up my clients with other people in my eight week program so that they did better in the program by having that added element of accountability. I know how important this can be and how powerful it is to the element of success and achievement.

Your accountability partner should be someone you respect and trust and who will keep you honest and moving forward on the path you set for yourself. You should have comparable values, but can have different personalities! There is an added benefit in having this be a person who is on a similar path and has a uniform drive level. Accountability partnerships work best when it is a collaboration between two people who like and respect one another explicitly.

When you search for an accountability partner, keep in mind that the right person should be someone who will challenge you, engage you and create a sense of accomplishment in you. This person should be someone you look up to and who has accomplished what you want to accomplish or is farther along in the process than you are. You want someone who wants you to have success as well as to achieve their own success. This person gets to be committed to you and to your success as well as you to theirs. Finding the right person can take time, but when you find the right one for you, it is Incredible! You MUST be able to have fun with your accountability partner!!

Setting up an accountability partnership is easy:

1. Find the right accountability partner.
2. Discuss and set your goals with them and your expectations of this partnership.
3. Be specific about action steps you will take to meet your goals.
4. Set consequences and rewards for achieving or not achieving your goals.
5. Set up regular meeting times to check in. This can be in person, zoom/skype or even over the phone or text. I highly recommend some in person face to face time, every four weeks, as well as check in times a couple times each week.
6. Review goals and strategies to make sure you are on track and achieving success.
7. Plan consistent Celebration for accomplishment of goals. Celebrate often!

An accountability partner takes on the role of trusted confidant and who can provide you with the guidance and motivation to forge ahead. Accountability serves to assist you along your journey. It requires you to accept responsibility for your actions and stay true to your commitments.

Unaccountable people make excuses, put things off and never reach their goals. Nobody really likes to be around those type of people, but let’s face it, without accountability we all can fall into this category a bit with procrastination, making excuses and being unwilling to really face the truth, right?

An accountability partner could be a spouse, family member, a friend or coworker. For me, I found my best partner to be someone I met at a speaking conference. We are both self-employed and are extremely motivated to have phenomenal success. You must find that person that resonates with you! You need to fully trust them and be willing to learn from them. Be willing to open up about your goals and your concerns as well as the results you are looking to achieve and be very clear in your communication.

It is important to have this person be your cheerleader as well as hold you to your commitments when you are deviating and being a slacker. I remember telling my partner, when we had known each other about 24 hours, “I would love to be your accountability partner, but you should know this: I will LOVE you completely and will not be afraid to kick your butt if needed!” This picture you see here is after we had both accomplished 50 goals in 60 days of becoming accountability partners and friends! We celebrated by going to a concert together, an overnight hotel stay with accountability and planning and then off to the mall for shopping and ended our 24 hours with pedicures!

Here are some reasons why an accountability partner is so powerful. An accountability partner:

• Keeps you motivated.
• Adds momentum and keeps you on track.
• Gives you new ideas, a different perspective and leverage other people’s information.
• Idea sharing, broader creativity and opportunity to brainstorm.
• Keeps you accountable. They will call you on your crap! (Your excuses!!)
• Helps you deal with setbacks and gets you back on track.
• Acts as a sounding board to get ideas and stay focused.
• Will CELEBRATE with you!
• Can see your blind spots and can reflect things back to you.
• Has a different perspective and experiences and can give you a completely different idea.
• Will motivate you while they challenge you to be your best self.

Your accountability partner will motivate, challenge, encourage and inspire you to achieve YOUR maximum results. If this is not what you are getting out of your accountability partner, it is time for you to find the right one for you! Take action in achieving what is best for you and being able to have the greatest success in your life NOW!