I have a love-hate relationship with accountability. How about you?
Yet it’s often the only way I can get myself to do something that is of benefit to myself. I’ll do something for someone else every time, but for me? Eh~~
Not everyone responds to external accountability in this way. Some don’t need it. Some won’t respond to it. For the rest of us, external accountability is a great tool.
There’s something about telling someone else what you’re planning to do and knowing they will ask you about it later, isn’t there? We’ve made a commitment to do this thing, and someone else knows – and will check.
This was the primary reason I hired a coach to help me finally lose my weight a decade ago – I’d tried to do it on my own, but 40 years of it proved I could not be consistent. That external check was key for me when my self-control was going south. Knowing I had to face her motivated me to stay on track to reach my goal.
Staying at my goal? That’s a deeper story as it’s not about the diet or exercise program. It’s about personal growth and connecting with my best self.
Like many, I’d let myself slide, but now I had to face the habits, thoughts, choices, and flaws I’d tolerated. “It’s just part of my personality,” I’d say. That’s a great excuse, but we often know that’s who we’ve become rather than who we truly are. It’s how we coped after life got ahold of us. It comes out of our wounds rather than from our best selves. In this kind of deep work, it’s essential to have a partner because we’ve been doing it another way for a long time. We exponentially benefit from someone’s perspective, encouragement, and accountability. It’s too easy to run, isn’t it?
Start here: Who is your best self? What are the qualities, habits, and choices your best self would make? How do you feel when you’re being your best? How can you reconnect and live out of that? What would you have to let go of or stop doing?
It’s not easy. It’s a lifelong adventure, but the result is worth whatever it takes.
If you need a little help, book a call with me.
