Accountability

You set goals for yourself every week, month, and year. The New Year is fast approaching and everyone will be all about New Year's Resolutions! Yes! It's "that" time again. All of the financial, nutritional, target weight, relationship, and personal goals will be set. The gyms will be packed with "Resolutionaries"! Well... that is until about March. Then the gyms will slowly begin to thin out consistently until the only ones left are the ones who have made a lifestyle change versus a resolution.

There will be an influx of investments made, only to be lost by mid-year because the "Resolutionaries" have all given up. Nutrition plans will be high on the metrics for Google's top searches in January and then as the month fades, so will the number of searches. But why? Why do we set a goal with no intention of achieving them. Year-after-year we set all of these resolutions. Then by the mid-year we are questioning ourselves. By the fall, we are filled with regrets of the previous months' decisions. Only to go into the winter time initially depressed and then, the cycle starts all over again. "This time, I'm going to do it! Not like this year! I'm not stopping! Watch!" The problem is, we have been watching. Every year we hear the same statements. We are your friends. We know you better than you think.

I challenge you this time, better yet, I dare you! Do not make a resolution for this new year. Set a goal and include tasks to be accomplished in order to achieve those goals. Develop a plan, yes, a real plan with dates and objectives that are S.M.A.R.T. (Specific. Measurable, Achievable. Realistic. Timely.). Identify your accountability partners. Let them know your plan. Provide them a copy of it. These people cannot be yes-man mentality. They must be like drill instructors and hold you accountable to what you said you would do. They are the ones that will jump out of the bushes and blow the whistle when you have that big greasy cheeseburger about to pass your lips. They are the ones who will tell you to keep running, keep reading, and stop spending! Then outline how your lifestyle will change, again, with dates of achievements. These dates will become your milestones. Take pictures along the way. Your appearance, your bank account, your GPA, etc. and watch the progress. Lifestyle is permanent and not a temporary thrill like resolutions. You are forming a new way of life.

Accountability will be the best thing you can do for yourself. Do not make a Plan B. An alternative will weaken your performance of the primary plan. Why? You will give yourself an excuse when it gets hard. "Well, since this didn't work, I can just do it this way." NO! You have no choice but to succeed. Only one way. No way but to go through it! No Plan B!

Hold yourself accountable to what you said you would do! You've got this. If no one else believes you can do it (even you), I believe in you. We know "Just do it" because it's Nike. How about "Just do it" because it's YOUR life! Start working on your goals, plans, and accountability partners right now. Don't wait until the New Year. Start now!