How Having An Accountability Partner Can Help You Achieve Your Goals

We all have goals. And yet, according to the University of Scranton, a staggering 92% of people fail to achieve their resolutions. Why do so many fail? Often, it’s because we know what we want to do – we want to write a book, we want to own our own home, we want to start a business – but we don’t take the steps to make our dream a reality. We’re stuck in the loop of knowing what we want and being disappointed when we don’t get it.
Well, there’s no reason to struggle alone. You can get an accountability partner, that is a trusted person, often with a similar goal. You and your
accountability partner will be a team, working together to achieve your dreams and supporting one another when things get tough. So, let’s look at just how an accountability partner can help you attain your goals.

Motivation

You may want to achieve your goal. However, it can be hard when you’re tired from your job, you have bills to pay, and kids to feed. It’s easy to say that you’ll work on it tomorrow and eventually years have passed and you’re still promising yourself, I’ll get to it tomorrow. Your accountability partner is your personal cheerleader and motivational speaker. They’re the voice telling you not to quit when you feel like
giving up. In your lowest moments, you know that you can reach out to them for support.

Analysis

Maybe your goal is to exercise three times a week. However, at the end of the work day, you’re tired and hungry and you often find yourself skipping the gym. Your accountability partner can help you analyse your challenges and offer an outside perspective. For example, maybe you’re staying up until two o’clock in the morning and so you’re too tired to exercise. Sometimes, all you need is an outside perspective to help you break bad habits and achieve your goals.

Structure

Structured goal setting is much more likely to lead to success. Having regular check–ins with your accountability partner will help you to create structure around your goals. For example, if you want to save a certain amount of money each month, you may record how much you saved and share it at regular intervals with your partner. If you don’t achieve your target in one month, you can discuss how to make it up in the coming months. In the long term, this will be much more effective than simply telling yourself that you want to save more.

Celebrating

Achieving a goal isn’t just hard work. You’ve got to make time to celebrate your wins too. According to Lifehack, “Our brains need positive feedback, so allowing yourself to be rewarded will develop an “addiction to progress” that will cause your brain to want to carry on to the next steps.” Your accountability partner is also there to give you a round of applause. Maybe you develop a special way to celebrate when you reach a milestone. Or maybe you just have a friend to text when you do something seemingly small but important to you.

Giving Back