Accountability Partners – A Vital Strategy for Goal Achievement
It’s no secret. Having accountability partners is a key ingredient in any area we want to see succeed. I’ve discovered a fun way to track accountability and make it a game. Download your free copy and play your way to goal achievement.
Ready to Get Started?
I would love to send you the Accountability Partner Game. Just fill in the form below and click the red button. Start today. There’s really no better time!
Lots of people pay lots of money for accountability coaches in every area of life. Why is that? Because we all do better when we think someone is watching us, when we think there’s some kind of review at the end. This applies to any priorities we have in life… work, fitness, finance, diets, sports, parenting, marriage, etc. And it feels so good to have your accountability partners in your corner cheering you on. That’s the best!!
So why do we all resist accountability? I’ll tell you why. Because it’s all fun and games until you don’t hit your goal, until the dark cloud of regret darkens your door, until you have to explain why you didn’t get the result you were striving for. “Ummm… you see, what happened was… ummm… the dog ate my homework.” That’ll fool ’em.
The Truth is… The Problem is Me
In my life, I struggle to maintain consistency in the area of health. I’ve studied a lot about various areas of health. And I feel like I have a pretty good understanding of what my body needs to be healthy. They say that those who know better do better. Somehow, I have failed to make this fact a reality in my life. The problem isn’t a lack of knowledge.
The problem is ME! I’m either all in and doing great or I’m full of excuses why I can’t reach my goals. And who am I telling these excuses to? Glad you asked. I’m telling them to myself. Because I don’t have accountability partners in this area of my life!! And my excuses must have been pretty good because I believed them every time I said them. Something had to change. I just refused to accept this reality about myself.
An Accountability Competition to Achieve Your Goals – Make it a Game!!
So, I decided to make having accountability partners a little more fun. I created a game, a contest, to help me maintain consistency. First, I picked someone to play the game with me. I chose someone I knew well and trusted to be honest. This person shares my same health goals and also shares my same struggles. Over lunch, we ironed out how we would play the game.
How the Accountability Partner Game is Played
- Download the habit tracker here or create a chart for measurable areas you both feel are important.
- Decide what categories to track.
- Assigned a point value to each category. One point for everything is just fine unless you want to add more value to certain categories.
- Determine the prizes and what criteria you’ll use to determine the winner. We created two ways to win. Initially, we wanted to make it a contest. A clear winner. And a clear loser. But this wasn’t going to help us achieve our health goals. If we both slacked off in the same month, then the “winner” would really only be one point better than the other slacker. We would be Slacker and Slacker +1. That didn’t feel very motivating. So, we decided on two possible ways to win.
- The first possibility – We could both either win or lose based on our own performance. The game rule is that we are required to achieve at least 80% of the possible points in a single month to win. The prizes are predetermined and agreed upon before the month begins. Each person gifts a prize, or reward, to the other person based on a minimum achievement of 80%.
- The second possibility – The contest. If one of us reaches the minimum achievement of 80% AND gets at least one point more than the other person, that person wins the contest. We call that The Kicker! There is a predetermined prize for that as well. A tie doesn’t count. And less than 80% achievement doesn’t count.
Examples of Habits for Accountability Partners to Track
As I mentioned, the area I needed to focus on was health. My rollercoaster habits needed accountability. So those were obviously the ones for me to track. Here’s the list we came up with for our game.
Clean Eating
We are both a fan of the paleo diet and love eating real food. Added that to the list.
Intermittent Fasting
I’m relatively new to this concept. I’ve been doing it for a couple of years and have noticed a significant improvement in my sleep, my shape, and my weight. The basic idea is to give your body a resting period each day by fasting certain hours. When your body isn’t digesting food, it has time and energy to repair its cells. Game changer.
Water
To calculate the amount of water we need, we divided our weight in half and are accountable to drink that number of ounces each day. We each have a different number of ounces we are responsible for. And since dehydration causes a variety of major problems, this one was a no brainer.
Vitamins
No matter how great our diet is, we all still lack certain vitamins and minerals that are necessary for our bodies. Definitely goes on the list.
Exercise
This clearly has to be on the list for obvious reasons. It’s so important that we decided to make it three categories. We are each responsible to exercise three areas of the body each day: core, arms/back, and legs/glutes. This is vague enough to allow change for variety and specific enough to require at least some amount of effort for each body group. We aren’t trying to be bodybuilders. We just want strong, toned muscles. It should also be noted that I really hate exercise. That’s all. Just wanted it documented.
Sleep
We were both guilty of staying up late and neglecting our 8 hours. Who wants to walk around tired all day? Added to the list.
When Do We Start as Accountability Partners?
Our lunch was on the 13th of the month. Right in the middle of the month. We could have waited to start until the first of the next month. But we decided there was no time like the present. The contest would start the very next day. No time like the present!
Create Your Own Accountability Game
What area do you need an accountability partner in? Invite a friend to lunch and establish your own rules.
- Establish the area you need accountability in
- Invite a trusted friend to play the game with you
- Establish your categories and point system. Keep it simple. One point for each is easiest unless something really deserves more than one point.
- Determine your prizes. These shouldn’t be expensive since you’re going to be doing this every month. They actually don’t have to cost anything at all. If you live with the person, you could agree to do one of their chores for the following month. Or, it could be as simple as the winner buys lunch. Get creative.
- Start now. There’s no reason not to.
We all deserve to be the very best version of ourselves. And frankly, your family and friends deserve the best version of you too. Click To Tweet
Add some accountability partners to your life and see just how great you can be.
Share this post with a friend and invite them to be your Accountability Partner!
Ready to Get Started?
I would love to send you the Accountability Partner Game. Just fill in the form below and click the red button. Start today. There’s really no better time!