Accountability is a major key in constructing your roadmap to success. It is vital in all areas of our lives from fitness to relationships. Now that we are clear on the importance of accountability, lets talk how we hold ourselves accountable to living our lives as the best version of ourselves.
First things first: You are never alone, even when you feel alone.
Step 1: Look in the Mirror
I know this seems very basic but take some time to look in the mirror regularly. While you are looking in the mirror maintain eye contact with yourself, be honest about what you see. It’s important to be honest about what you see, specifically the things that you are having a hard time accepting about yourself. Acceptance does not come without honest acknowledgement and you have to start to condition yourself to seeing your whole self before you can accept yourself and then be accountable to yourself. Looking in the mirror should not only cue you visually to “seeing yourself” but as you look yourself in the eyes you will start to think about your mental, emotional and social selves. It’s important to start to honestly acknowledge areas to accept and evolve through in those spaces of your life as well.
Mirror Moments are how I started to become accountable to myself.
Step 2: Find A Partner
You are the average of how you uplift and be uplifted by the 5 people around you. To create positive accountability encounters you must choose wisely of the people who are closest to you. You go on in life to share your biggest secrets and successes with the people you choose to have close to you and it is vital that those people are of the same beliefs, positive, supportive, empathic but also honest. These are the people who in times of weakness will show up for you as you are struggling to show up for yourself.
So pick people that can be what you need and in turn you be what they need. Share your goals and intentions with them. Then allow them to check in with you on those things and ask questions, provide resources and just overall support.
Understand that your people may very in different areas of your life. You need accountability partners in business, food, fitness, social, etc…
Social accountability is very important and many overlook it, especially if you are an entrepreneur or highly ambitious goal-oriented person. We cannot just work, work, work; as humans we are meat to be connect and social beings. For example: I have Chip, a coworker I work closely with daily. I try to always find a way to have a social moment which I will preface with “Chip, I’m talking to you as a friend not my coworker”. As we have developed a friendship aside from our working relationship it is important to feed that relationship but finding time to invest time and energy into it. Not to mention is makes us both feel great to have someone to talk to on the basis that we care about one another overall well beings. Your social accountability can also look like friends checking in and you remembering to give a call to
Step 3: Execute
Okay, you have looked yourself in the mirror and had a conversation about what you want to do. You have talked to a friend or family member about what you are going to do. Now it’s time to execute. That is the completion step in the process of accountability. If you never complete the task at had then you have not held yourself accountable to it.
With these steps you are now able to have 360 degrees of being accountable. Also note that being accountable is correcting action when you go off course but also being your own biggest cheerleader in times of success and accomplishment. So many people hold a negative connotation over accountability and that is because we tend to associate it solely with the negative aspects of ourselves and our lives and how we have to account for them. No! It is just as important to account for the wins in your life, small or large!
Accountability is important for your overall quality of life. Without being accountable to yourself and others you may stumble through life never reaching your full potential or goals. Telling yourself or someone else you will do something and then actually doing it builds confidence, self-esteem and self-respect!
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