Accountability Starts With You - 8 ways to hold yourself accountable

Accountability starts with you when reaching for a goal.

There’s great value in being held accountable, even if it’s only an informal accountability.

accountability keeps you engaged and on course
accountability validates and challenges your thinking
accountability makes it easier to measure your progress

Writing on a topic has held me accountable. If I’m writing about a topic, it feels disingenuous if I don’t follow through.

Many times I’ve written about something in marriage on EncourageYourSpouse, and realized I’d better “up my game” in that area! It’s humbling. The good part? Our 34-year marriage, by God’s grace, has benefited! Writing a post here on PositiveThanksLiving holds me accountable – it’s not a formal accountability, because you’ll never know if I follow through… but still, there’s a definite nagging feeling if I’m not practicing what I write about. Yes, accountability starts with me and, I suppose, ends with me.

What if writing isn’t your schtick? What else could you do to tap into the strength of accountability?

How could you hold yourself accountable?

The most obvious way to be held accountable is to tell someone your goal and ask that person to check in with you on how you’re doing.
Prayer is a powerful way to be held accountable. Ask someone to pray over your goal – and to pray with you for your goal.
Or you could be proactive and learn something new about your goal every day or week – educate yourself to practice accountability.
Create a specific statement describing what you’re reaching for and post it where you’ll see it often, and perhaps read it aloud every morning or evening.
Make a date with yourself to pursue that goal. Block off time on the calendar that’s unavoidable. Add buffer time into your calendar to make sure you can achieve what you’re working toward.
Give yourself milestone rewards. Rewards along the way can be a powerful way to celebrate being held accountable.
Record your progress, even if it’s crossing off each day on a calendar or filling in a little square on a numbered sheet.
Ask for advice or feedback regularly from those you trust. They don’t need to know what you’re reaching for, but their input could be what inspires you to keep going.

All of these ideas require you to start. Because…

Accountability starts with you.

What are you reaching for – how will you hold yourself accountable?

What would you add to the list – have I missed a way that’s worked for you? Please comment – you’ll be helping all of us in the accountability area. <grin>