LISTEN TO EPISODE 106 HERE -> https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/vzLiL4BLHyb
On today’s show we are talking about… my free Accountability Challenge during the month of April and how you can uplevel your own self-accountability to get the things done that you want to.
Holding yourself accountable, which means taking full responsibility for your actions (or inactions) is the greatest form of self-respect and self-love there is, in my humble opinion.
When you manage self-accountability, you are no longer: giving up on your habits and goals, quitting when the going gets tough, maintaining a perfectionistic attitude or rather an all-or-nothing mentality that is more hindering than helpful.
But what you are doing is: showing up for yourself even if it’s not perfect or the exact way you envisioned, you are sticking with the plan even if the days become hectic all of a sudden and throw off all of your well-laid plans you set for yourself in the early morning, honouring your desire to uplevel your health and fitness however that looks on any given day, you are celebrating each and every small step you make in the right direction but also (and this is important) giving yourself some much-needed grace when things don’t always go the way you would like them to.
Self-accountability also means standing up for yourself and setting boundaries in order to get in the exercise you planned to, have enough time for meal prep or decline a glass of wine at the book club meeting.
Remember, ladies (and gents, of course), there are things like laundry, dirty dishes, pantry organizing, dusting, cleaning and garden work that will be waiting for you to return from your walk, run, exercise time. Always honour your body and its need for movement first before caring what the house looks like. Not easy, but once you feel the sheer energizing effect you get from exercising, you’ll come to care less about the tidiness of your house and much more about the way your body feels.
Okay, but first I really have to tell you how I came up with the idea of an accountability challenge for my followers on the FB page: Inspiration2grow for Female Goal-Getters.
Last week I had an interesting conversation with my optometrist, who inquired about my profession. “What keeps you glued to your computer for long hours each day?” She asked.
I proceeded to explain that I produce a podcast focused on the trifecta of wellness: mindset, nutrition and exercise, and I told her about my work as a Mindset/Life Coach primarily for women.
She continued with my eye examination and suddenly, she turned to me and asked what form of cardio I am doing to stay healthy. Enthusiastically, I told her about my beloved spin classes.
The conversation went on and she offered her fitness story. We chatted about a variety of things: intermittent fasting, knee injuries, fitness assessments, her daughter moving out, health books I would recommend, hiring a personal trainer, the whole nine yards.
But then, one sentence she said really resonated with me and I think most people feel the very same way…
She said, “Basically, we all know what we have to do to improve our level of fitness and health, but we just don’t do it. What we really need is accountability.”
BOOM!
And there is was, she hit the nail on the head precisely. Everyone knows deep down what they should (or shouldn’t) be doing to promote a healthier lifestyle for themselves, but they either don’t do it or fall short of their goals for a myriad of reasons. (Sigh!)
Accountability is the key to personal growth and success.
It is the responsibility to follow through on commitments and goals that you set for yourself. It’s about having the discipline to stay focused on your goals. Being accountable to yourself means putting in the work to reach your goals, no matter the outcome.
I reflected quite a bit on my conversation with my optometrist and I thought it would be fun to offer a free accountability challenge to the ladies in my FB group. And, I have to say, the response was amazing. Currently, I have 6 ladies, all of whom have different goals they’d like to reach in April. Basically, the goals range from wanting to exercise more, get in more steps each day, increase water consumption, have an alcohol-free month, begin a strength training routine. As you can imagine, I loved reading all these goals. In short, these 6 ladies wanted to uplevel their health and fitness.
My job is to hold them accountable – one message in the morning and another later in the day to check in with them. Trouble shooting if needed to help and support them in any way possible. This is truly what I love doing. There is nothing more rewarding than helping people reach their goals.
So, far each of the ladies is doing a fantastic job of altering or upgrading old habits, developing and introducing new ones, starting fresh with new goals and slowly but surely gaining momentum every day.
Every day that you hold yourself accountable is a huge vote of confidence in YOU.
So, this brings me to some tangible advice for you listeners today who want to become more self-accountable but didn’t have the opportunity to join my challenge. (Don’t worry, another one will be offered again soon.)
How to develop self-accountability?
“Sorry, I didn’t have time today.” “I’ll get it done tomorrow.” “I really didn’t put in my best effort.” “Don’t worry, I’ll get to it later.”
Do any of these lines sound familiar? You may have used them yourself. They’re excuses, and they are a way to avoid self-accountability.
Trust me when I say, tomorrow never comes and someday is not a day of the week on any calendar you’ll ever find. Later never comes either. It’s just a lame excuse for not feeling like doing something at that moment.
Excuses are common, but that doesn’t make them acceptable. They’re a tool we use (far too often) to avoid having to get out of our comfort zone and grow. Listen, true winners don’t make excuses – they accept personal accountability for everything in their lives, and it propels them to success.
What is self-accountability?
It’s when we take responsibility for our lives. We don’t blame our failures or problems on others or outside events. We have to realize that YOUR LIFE IS ULTIMATELY A RESULT OF YOUR OWN ACTIONS. When you become more self-accountable, you understand that the only thing you can control is your own behaviour, not the decisions and behaviour of others.
Self-accountability as it relates to habits and goals…
It means being able to focus on your goals and follow through. It’s just that simple. You take your commitments seriously because you know that they’re a reflection of your own character. And, when you’re not able to finish a task or complete a commitment, you look for the lesson so you can improve in the future and not run into the same situation again.
Why is being accountable even important?
If you’re not growing, you’re dying and decaying. Tough pill to swallow, but it’s true, friends. And, if you don’t know how to take accountability for your actions, it’s much harder to work on your personal growth. You’ll always find an excuse for your failure, a reason you weren’t able to achieve a goal, someone to blame when things go wrong – simply put, you’ll never grow as a person.
When you commit to self-accountability, you can literally achieve anything. But first, you’ll need to transform your mindset and develop the right set of skills.
Today, I’m going to give you 5 ways you can implement to improve your self-accountability today. However, I do go much deeper into this with my private life coaching clients. We are just scratching the surface for a few tangible ways you can use, so let’s dive in.
How to improve your self-accountability in 5 easy steps
Holding yourself accountable is one of the most essential traits for a successful, fulfilling life, but also in relationships and in a career too – yet many people struggle greatly with it. Here are 5 strategies that will help you start being accountable to yourself today.
1. Examine your beliefs and values
What is your ‘personal set of rules’? Are you loyal, responsible or a team player, perhaps? These are values of highly accountable people. There are also negative values such as criticism, pessimism, laziness that all contribute to a lack of self-accountability. Our values are formed in childhood when we pick up on the beliefs of those around us and strive to earn love by fitting it. Once you identify them, you can work to change them.
So, take a very reflective moment and jot down what your personal set of rules looks like. What do you believe and what are your values? Put a simple + or – sign beside each of them to distinguish whether they are considered advantageous or not beneficial for your self-accountability and personal growth overall.
If, for example, being overly critical was one of the terms you wrote down and marked as negative for your growth, then you’d take some time to reflect on ways of being less critical and turning them attitude into a more positive one. Maybe by thinking or saying something positive at each situation in which you might have said something negative. Find and comment on the positive rather than the negative to turn that habit around.
Let’s take pessimism… if you view a situation from a pessimistic lens, try to switch that to, “Okay, you think it can’t be done, but let’s think of all the ways it could very well happen.” Flip your script from negative to positive.
2. Turn your “should” into “musts”
Transforming your mindset starts with turning your “shoulds” into “musts”. Our lives are filled with things we ‘should’ do: exercise, eat healthy, work on our relationships, find a job we love, etc. To turn these goals into “musts”, connect them to your purpose in life. Begin to understand that they are essential to your happiness. Make a promise to yourself to live with no regrets.
3. Develop time management skills
Being accountable is difficult when you feel that you don’t have enough time in the day, right? But when you say “I don’t have time,” what you’re really saying is, “I don’t have time management skills.” OR “I don’t have time to prioritize my health and wellbeing.”
If this sounds like you, then throw out your to-do list and use chunking to plan your day. Learn how to use and plan blocks of time in your day. Dedicate a block of time to your goals whether that is in the early morning, around lunchtime or in the evening. Keep this appointment to yourself as the CEO of your life would keep an important appointment with this company.
4. Watch the words you use
Everyone has an inner monologue that affects the way we interact with the world. That little voice turns into the behaviours we engage in and the words we choose to speak. The ability to identify and stop any negative self-talk is vital to engaging with others is a positive way.
Next time something goes wrong, notice how you react. Is your ‘inner critic’ blaming something other than yourself? Flip those thoughts around and think about how YOU can improve in the future. That’s what we call personal accountability.
5. Get support if needed
Having someone on your side who can hold you accountable externally can actually be the first step to instilling self-accountability. Many of the most successful people will tell you they didn’t do it alone. With the help of an accountability coach (that’s me), you’ll make a plan, set goals and unlock your potential.
Once you see the incredible things you can achieve, you’ll be addicted to self-accountability.
And if you feel that you’d like me to support you as a life coach, I would love for you to connect with me to set up a short discovery call and find out more about my services or go to my website.
And, that’s a wrap for today’s show.
My hope is that you start to implement some of the ideas, tips and strategies that I talk about and I would love to know which ones have been beneficial for you personally.
I would also like to invite you to become part of the Inspiration2grow community on Facebook. The group name is: Inspiration2grow for Female Goal-getters. It is meant to be a community of like-minded women who want to grow strong from the inside out. There will be journalling prompts, nutrition and fitness tips, exercises to try, encouraging conversations among the community and lots more. So, be sure to join this group for support, new ideas and the necessary rocket fuel to propel your health and wellness to new heights.
You owe it to yourself to take care of yourself, show up for yourself and become the best version of YOU.
In case you haven’t heard it yet today, let me be the first to tell you…
You are incredible, capable and your potential is limitless. Never forget that I believe in you 100%. Now, go out there and show the world what you are truly made of.
I hope to have inspired you to grow.
Til next time,
Lisa xoxo
