Even though I have been working with coaching clients for years now, I was reluctant to try any form of accountability myself. I thought I was organized and disciplined enough to handle my own goals.
What I didn’t realize was that I was missing a great opportunity.
Since the beginning of this year I have been meeting once a week with Matt Frazier from No Meat Athlete. Our video Skype calls are short, friendly, and highly effective.
When Matt first approached me about meeting once a week, I thought it would be a duplication of my own efforts.
I didn’t quite see how talking to someone else about my goals would make me any more effective at doing my work.
Fast forward a few months and I am loving our weekly chats for a few key reasons:
I don’t know about you, but I love being prepared for everything. So, if I plan to meet with Matt at a predetermined time and report on my progress — I had better be ready.
I don’t want to show up without my data and feel embarrassed or let Matt down because I wasn’t ready for the meeting. This fear motivates me to do the work every time.
This may not be surprising to you, but I don’t know everything. Talking with another like-minded person about my goals automatically provides a new set of eyes, ears, and experiences that can easily offer new suggestions and point out blind spots.
I am not superman, but for a long time I have acted like I am. Meeting with Matt reminds me that other people have a lot to offer and I need to open my ears and listen.
This may be the best part of our meeting and it happens before the meeting even begins. Knowing that I have a deadline looming forces me to work ahead of time.
The day before our call I create my reports and prepare my information. I cancel other appointments and reschedule tasks to ensure I do what is needed for my accountability session.
If I wasn’t meeting with Matt, I know that I would inadvertently postpone the work. I would make excuses and prioritize other projects that are likely not as important.
More structure is better. Boundaries are incredibly powerful. Working within limits creates focus and clarity around what has to get done and I’m now convinced that this way of working is essential for my own success.
It’s likely a great idea for you as well.
Even though our calls are only 30 minutes long, we cover a lot of content.
The main topics we discuss are based on Darren Hardy’s Best Year Ever program, which is fantastic.
I encourage you check out Darren’s program to get a comprehensive set of templates and ideas for organizing your annual goals.
Feel free to steal these ideas for yourself and customize them to make your accountability meetings as effective as possible.
What 3 things went really well last week? What are you proud of? Did anything new and surprising happen?
What didn’t go well? Where did you drop the ball? What goals did you fail to achieve?
How will you correct the problems from last week? Specifically, what do you plan to do this week to make sure the problems don’t return?
What brilliant insights did you come across? What new ideas are you excited about? Did you find anything inspirational or reflective while reading, attending a seminar, or talking to a friend?
What are your Top 3 goals for next week? What are you willing to commit to achieving?
How will you enrich yourself this week? What books are you reading? What workshops are you attending? What audio programs, podcasts, or audio books will you be listening to?
How will you get better at what you do? What skill sets are you sharpening? What new skills will you be developing?
Every week, Matt and I discuss the above questions. Every month, we go a little deeper. It’s a good idea to create some major milestones where you will reflect on longer periods of time.
Monthly, quarterly, and annually milestones are the most common, but you may want to choose to reflect on a semester basis or after major projects have been completed.
If you keep a Daily Rituals Spreadsheet, this is a great time to aggregate your data and discuss how well you have done.
Thanks to Skype, your accountability partner could live anywhere in the world. Matt lives in Asheville, North Carolina and I live in Nashville, Tennessee — a distance of over 300 miles.
Meeting in person could be even more effective, so if you already have someone locally you want to meet with, try that out first.
If you don’t have anyone in mind, reach out to someone you would ideally like to work with. It takes a little guts to ask, but most people are willing to do anything that helps them accomplish their goals.
If your goals matter to you, then accountability should matter too. Try to avoid the superman syndrome that I had and be willing to reach out and work with someone.
Both of you will appreciate the added support system and you will likely end up accomplishing more than you ever could on your own.
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I am the founder and CEO of 5 AM Miracle Media, LLC . I’m also a productivity junkie , plant-based marathon runner, and personal development fanatic. I also eat a crazy number of bananas. 😉
To help spread the amazing message of waking up early to dominate your day before breakfast, I am a keynote speaker, productivity coach, author of The 5 AM Miracle , The Free-Time Formula, and founder of The Rockin’ Productivity Academy.
I also host The 5 AM Miracle Podcast , which has ranked #1 in Apple Podcasts in the Self-Improvement and Business categories, been nominated for 7 Podcast Awards, and exceeded 13 million downloads.
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