Accountability partners come from different places by @blogformatting

by Delia Rusu | Featured Contributor

Wikipedia definition: “An  accountability partner is a person who coaches another person in terms of helping the other person keep a commitment.”

Ahh, commitments… We tend to make them, but then things come in the way and we cannot always keep them.

You may want to get that book written, lose those 10 extra pounds, eat healthier, or write the sales copy for your new program or service.

And here’s what usually happens:

You start all excited and happy, really committed to your goal, and talking about it with everyone who’ll listen.

Then your enthuse fades away, you talk less and less about it, until you’ve even forgotten what you were supposed to do and by when.

Has this ever happened to you with a goal that you had or a commitment you made?

Perhaps you had a great idea to start a new program, but you’ve lost yourself in planning, overthinking, and then you got distracted by another idea.

Never got much traction for that program at all, but you keep thinking about it and how you’ll continue where you left off. Some day…

That’s where the accountability partner comes in handy. He or she can really help you stick to your goal and get it done.

And the funny thing is… they don’t have to someone official, like a real coach. Though that works too and by all means I recommend you get one when you feel ready.

However, as I learned this year, accountability partners can come from the most surprising places.

For example, one of my goals this year was to spend more time in nature. I wanted to be out every day for at least 30 minutes, no matter if it was hot, freezing, rain or hail.

And you know that saying:

“When the student is ready, the teacher comes.”

Which in my case no one other than our very own puppy, Charlie.
A puppy needs to be out every day, and so how convenient that my daughter, after 2 years of begging, convinced us to get one!

Here in Canada where I’m from, we had a pretty nasty winter, with lots of days of -40 C, not to mention a bad ice storm, and also snow until the end of April. I know, crazy, right?

Well normally I’d stay inside in such weather and I’d only get out to walk two meters to the car, then drive to where I needed to. Not so much for exercising and spending time in nature, right?

And I would have done this walk to the car thing this year too, had I not had Charlie, who needed to go out every single day to play and do his stuff 🙂

So here I am: out every single day, because I have to. At the beginning, I was complaining a bit (OK, a lot), but then I realized this was what I wanted and needed, an accountability partner to help me stick with my goals.

So what commitment do you need to keep?

Do you want to write a book? Write down how many pages per week and ask a friend to call you every Sunday to see how you’re doing and to chat about your struggles.

Do you want to go to bed early so you can sleep more? Ask your kid to come get your from your computer when it’s 9 PM. This will give you time to relax a bit and spend some time with them before bed.

Do you want to lose weight? It does not have to be very hard like following a complicated diet plan! In fact, you can get a dog, or you can borrow Charlie for a few weeks 🙂

And yes, the photo in this post is Charlie and me enjoying our daily walk in a nice summer day last week. After all that tough winter weather, me made it! 🙂

Your turn!

What’s your next goal and commitment that you need to keep? Who can be a good accountability partner? Let me know in a comment and share so others can benefit!

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Delia Rusu – Guarding your blog genius at Blog Formatting – Toronto, Canada, and worldwide

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