Hey,

One of the biggest success principles that I follow is accountability. Having a way of checking in with yourself is important to keeping you on track with your goals - and they don’t have to be fitness goals either. Accountability is useful for every pursuit.

Accountability has a way of motivating me into action. Just knowing that someone is going to ask me about my progress with “X Goal” is enough to keep a fire going, and ensure that I stay on track.

Here are three tips for maximizing the power of accountability.

1. Just Do It - Find a way, any way, to keep yourself accountable. I think the best way is by having a close friend, or co-worker, to check in with from time to time. Set aside a time each week, or every day, to meet with your accountability partner and review your progress. It doesn’t have to be anything formal. You could just talk on the phone for a fewminutes, but having this one ingredient makes a recipe for success.

But there are other ways to stay accountable…

-join a social networking community online with people that have similar goals as yours.

There are so many different ways to stay in touch with people and there is a support community for virtually every different pursuit: blogs, facebook groups, myspace, ning communities, squidoo lenses, paid membership sites, the list goes on.

-Write your goals down and post them somewhere you’ll see them every day.

-Make a weekly checklist of action items that you MUST accomplish to reach your goals.

The key is starting today, starting RIGHT NOW.
 
2. Find Your Groove - everyone has something that makes them tick. For me, it’s COMPETITION.
Put me in a group of cut-throat competitors and I am likely to succeed - it’s in my blood.

If you’re not into competition, that’s fine too, and there are other hot buttons you can utilize to maximize the power of accountability.

-setting a deadline, and WRITING IT DOWN.

-tell everyone you know that you are going to achieve “X Goal” in “X Amount of Time,” and you’re going to feel “X Times Better” for doing it

-decide on a reward for achieving your goal on time.

Anything that will keep a fire under your butt to TAKE ACTION will work perfectly.

3. Be the One to Initiate Accountability.  For some people, asking for an accountability partner is awkward - it’s open and honest, revealing even - and it can be taken as a sign of weakness or neediness by some. Sometimes, it feels like We live in a stand-off culture, and it’s true to an extent.

Be stronger than that, and understand that by asking someone for help, you will build a sense of comraderie and help each other with what is truly important.

Train with purpose,

Kyle Battis, NSCA-CPT, CSCS
www.SecretsOfBurningFat.com
http://www.BurnTheFat-InnerCircle.com

P.S. My training partner, John Sifferman, just posted a video about accountability at his
blog. Check it out by Clicking Here