How to Use Personal Accountability and Attitude to Move You Closer to Your Goals

Several times a year, we find ourselves looking back over the goals and plans we’ve made.  Sometimes they’re personal goals like losing weight or reading a certain number of books over the next six months.  Other times they’re professional goals like taking leadership training or attending a particular conference.  But no matter what the goal is, without consistent action, they fade into the land of wishes and “to-do” lists.  

So how do we prevent that from happening?

The answer is a shot (or a double shot) of what I like to call the secret sauce of success. Two of the most powerful tools you need to bring your goals to life are - (Insert dramatic pause)

Accountability and Attitude

I know it sounds simple, but these twin powers, or the lack thereof, have killed the progress on more dreams than we can count.  

Let’s look at the first piece – Accountability

Personal accountability is essential when it comes to reaching your goals because it is about focusing on the goal itself, even when it gets challenging.  Here’s a little trick I use to F.O.C.U.S. and keep myself accountable.

Fit actions that support your goals into your life.  Chances are, your life was already packed full of activities before you set your goal and plan of action in motion.  So it’s essential to consider that as you schedule different events.  The key here is to schedule relevant activities that move you closer to the finish line.  

Organize the tools and resources you need to help you take consistent action towards your goals.  If you plan to work out on Monday’s, make sure your gym bag is packed and ready to go the night before or early that morning.  This sets you up for success and helps stave off excuses that hinder momentum.

Celebrate the wins along the way. For every step, you take, make sure that you take the time to reward yourself and celebrate.  This will help you maintain your momentum and stay focused to keep going.

Use what works! If your goal is to read more books, but you are not a fan of eBooks – don’t buy them!  Get audiobooks, paperbacks, books on CD, or whatever works for you and keeps you moving forward.  Remember, this is your goal, and you have to do the work to bring it to life, so go with the custom option over the “one size fits all” solution.  

Schedule in small increments.  It’s easier to eat a fork full of cake than it is to finish a whole cake in one bite. Schedule your tasks and activities a little bit at a time to help you build your “healthy habit muscle” along the way.  So if you want to learn to paint, don’t block off your calendar with classes for the next two years.  Instead, plan out a few weeks at a time.  Get in the habit of crossing the finish line, then start scheduling for the next 60 days, 90 days, etc.

Those are five ways you can focus and hold yourself accountable as you gain momentum toward your goals.

But we still can’t forget the second shot -  Attitude.

Having the right attitude can completely change things.  This applies to the tone of our day, how we feel about ourselves and others, AND how quickly and effectively we reach our goals.

The key is not just to have a good or positive attitude all the time, because we all know that things happen that can affect our attitude.  So, in addition to deciding to have the right attitude as often as we can, we also want to prepare for the times when our attitude isn’t in the right place.  This means having something in place that can “flip the switch” and get us back to a place where we are focused on the goal and tasks at hand.  

Here’s a good example.  Suppose you decided that you wanted to win a bowling tournament.  But to do that you needed to practice two times a week consistently not just to qualify, but reach your goal of winning. What if, one day, you didn’t feel like practicing?  Maybe you had a rough day at work, you had some extra things added to your schedule for the day, or perhaps the bowling alley you regularly use flooded, and you would have to drive farther to practice.  

How could you refocus on your vision instead of all of the reasons you shouldn’t take action? 

You go to your “Attitude anchor” to motivate yourself.

An attitude anchor could be:

• Listening to “Eye of the Tiger” on full blast

• Looking at a picture of someone you look up to holding their tournament trophy

Or 

• Looking at the picture of the bowling gloves you plan to buy for yourself when you win the tournament

All of these are tools you could use to shift your attitude so you can keep working on the plan you created.

Now that we’ve taken a look at some ways you can hold your self accountable and have an attitude that fuels your momentum, can you think of a few goals you can apply this too?

We’d love to hear how you plan to bring your vision to life! Feel free to share in the comments below or on our Facebook page.