Be Your Own Accountability Partner

Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm on Unsplash

Doing things with other people is great. Especially if the things you are doing with them are improving your lives in some way. Whether that be going to the gym, losing weight, creating better habits, reading books together, and so on. 

An accountability partner is someone who will hold you accountable to your commitment. 

Having an accountability partner can be a good idea for some people. It can be an effective way to keep yourself on the right track. It can keep you disciplined.

An accountability partner can be great for outgoing people especially. Or for like-minded people who are both committed to similar goals.

It is very rewarding to make a change to improve your life with a friend or family member.

Imagine both of you reaching your goals with the things you do together. Wouldn’t that be so rewarding? You’d have someone to experience the journey with and celebrate the change you’ve made for yourselves together!

However, it is important to consider the risks of having an accountability partner: What if your accountability partner decides to slow down? What if they decide to quit on their goal? How will you handle that situation? If they quit, are you able to keep going?

 What if it is you who decides to slow down or quit?

These questions can be daunting, but you need to ask them for yourself before you commit to having an accountability partner. 

A more effective way to work towards a goal is to be your own accountability partner. You are the person who keeps you on the right track. You push yourself to keep going, even when you don’t feel like doing it.

Being your own accountability partner is powerful. You become in control of your goal. You become in control of the process you take to reach your goal. You become in control of yourself.

There’s nothing more powerful than that.

In other words, you build self-discipline for yourself.

Self-discipline is the single greatest tool you can have in your life. It will help you reach ANY goal of yours. It is the tool you’ll rely on when things get tough. When you don’t want to continue, but you know you need to. 

If you build self-discipline, then you WILL become a better person.

Self-discipline makes you strong, confident, focused, productive, and happy. 

Self-discipline is not something you can outsource. By definition, it can only come from you. This is why it is important to build your self-discipline on your own. 

Think about if you got an accountability partner, but neither of you had self-discipline. How are you going to remain committed to your goals together when it gets tough? 

It will be difficult for you to stay focused on your goal when it gets tough for you or your accountability partner. You haven’t built the skills to handle those situations yet. 

That’s not to say that you won’t reach your goal, but it is a big risk. If you are serious about a goal to make a change that’ll improve your life, then you need to build your self-discipline. 

Building self-discipline is the way to reach your goal.

So how do you build self-discipline? 

You start by showing up every day. Don’t skip a day. Seriously. You must show up every day and work on your goal if you want to eventually reach it. 

It’s going to get hard. You’ll have days where you just don’t want to show up, where you just want to take the day off and pick it up “tomorrow.” You feel tired, you’re busy, you want to relax, etc.

These excuses only waste your time. They hold you back and prevent you from getting what you truly want in your life.

Think about what’s more important to you: The excuses you tell yourself (whatever they might be) or the goal you want to achieve?

If your goal is what’s more important to you, then make your actions align with that. Prioritize your goal over your excuses. 

Everyone has days where they just don’t want to do something. The key to success is to do it anyway. You’ll feel much better by simply showing up.

Acting on your goal despite the excuses that want to pull you down builds your self-discipline. 

And you’ll be on the right track to a better life.