Why You Need An Accountability Partner
One thing I really struggle with is holding myself accountable. I find it unusually easy to push my to-do list off until tomorrow. Sure, I might beat myself up over it, but obviously it’s fine because in the end I’m just letting myself down. Right?
Unfortunately, this kind of mindset is devastating to productivity and keeps people from actually reaching their goals. The best cure I’ve found, is having an accountability partner; someone who is willing to invest their time in seeing me succeed.
An accountability partner (AP) is someone you meet with regularly, typically once a week, via Skype or in-person. You both share your long-term goals and short-term tasks you want to accomplish for the week ahead. The main objective is making sure you both follow through on what you plan to accomplish, so you can continue to make progress in whatever venture you have set forth.
An accountability partner will:
- keep you on track
- motivate you
- allow you to see multiple perspectives
- talk through your ideas and give you feedback
- reset your focus each week
After every meeting I am fired up and ready to tackle the next week. Personally, I get easily distracted from my original goals when looking at other people who are killing it in the design industry. It’s easy for me to want to jump to the next thing, but it’s been imperative for me to have someone there to keep me on track.
Your AP should be completely open and honest with you. If you’re best buds, but scared of hurting each other’s feelings, then you need to find someone else who isn’t afraid.
Success doesn’t come easy and it certainly doesn’t come without failure, so you need someone who will call you on your bullshit and help guide you in the right direction.
Where do I find an accountability partner?
Since your AP should be someone who is honest, driven, and has similar goals as you, you might need to do some digging to find them. A few things you can do:
- Ask any of your designer friends that you feel could be a good match.
- Attend local meet-ups with like-minded individuals.
- Similar to meet-ups, go to creative conferences where there will be a pool of other creatives looking to push their careers further.
- Join Facebook groups or other online communities in a niche similar to yours and converse with other members. I met my first AP in the Seanwes Community.
- If you don’t have any designer friends or struggle to meet people in your industry, then your family or close friends are great back-ups as they will have your best interests at heart. You may have to lay a little extra groundwork in educating them on the things you want accomplish and vice versa.
Not everyone will be the perfect fit. If your AP doesn’t work out, you can always find someone else who is going to better match your drive and determination.
Once you’ve chosen someone to be your AP, what do you do?
Steps for a Successful Partnership:
- Meet at least once a week and put it in your calendar. I recommend meeting on the same day every week to help you stay consistent.
- Take Notes. You don’t need to write everything down, but it will help you track progress and keep your memory fresh with your priorities as well as your partner’s. If you only record one thing, make sure it is your goals and your partner’s goals for the week ahead. You will use this list as a reference for next week’s meeting.
- One Person at a Time. Have one person share what they did and/or didn’t get done in the past week and what they want to accomplish in the following week. Listen to your partner and provide them with feedback. Then have the other person speak. You will not only save time, but it will keep the meeting focused and productive.
- Recap. At the end of every meeting, go over each other’s to-do lists again so you’re both on the same page.
- Check in throughout the week. Finally, if you want to ensure each of you are staying on track, have mini check-ins throughout the week. A simple text every few days is all you need.
So get out there, introduce yourself to someone new or find a friend who’s ready to take their career to the next level and start sharing your goals. I guarantee you will find it much easier to attain the things you want when you have someone keeping you accountable.
