Why Accountability Is Key
March 24, 2016 Hollie Power
My husband recently locked me out – on purpose!
OK, it isn’t as bad as it sounds…. I kinda asked him to.
You see, I have signed up for a half marathon which takes place in just over a week, and my training has been, ahem, a little limited shall we say.
I imagined I’d be leaping through the finish line barely breaking a sweat – but I now think I will be lucky to crawl across.
The simple reality is, I just don’t love running that much, so I keep finding excuses to put the training off.
Last weekend, my husband and I visited our little getaway spot for a weekend free of wine and late nights and to enjoy some quality time with our puppy, each other – and of course, for me to run.
So, I reluctantly laced up my trainers and announced I was off – and that I would be gone for a minimum of an hour.
“I will lock the door,” said my husband.
And he did.
Off I went, headphones on – and I was doing well. I took a breather around 40 minutes in and I was a stones throw from my starting place and I nearly went back.
I’d done enough I thought! Plus I was a bit hungry and I needed the toilet.
But, then I remembered my husband had locked the door – because I’d been so determined to run for the full hour.
So, I picked a fresh new tune, and set off again for another 20 minutes.
Now, had I not told him I wanted to run for an hour, I would have cut my run short. Because no one would have held me accountable.
When we have our own businesses, we rarely have someone to help keep us on track.
When we work somewhere, we have a boss who sets targets and praises us when we achieve them.
As a solo business owner, the only person we have to answer to is ourself – and sometimes, we can be guilty of giving ourselves too much slack – well I know I can! It’s those little excuses that we give to ourselves – Facebook will be there next week, don’t worry about posting the next few days. Or, I won’t place an advert today, I don’t want to spend the money. Or even, I really want to write 4 blogs this month and I’ve only done one, but who cares – no one can tell me off.
When we start to spiral this way though, that’s when business suffers and we can see a negative impact on what we have created.
So what is the answer here?
Firstly, set yourself goals. Realistic, achievable goals that will impact your business positively.
Then, tell someone your goals. Find someone to help you stay on track by holding you accountable. A business buddy, a family member, even me! I offer that service and I will certainly keep you on track! Feel free to comment below to be accountable publicly!
But be sure to have someone to lock that door for you and push you to achieve your goals – it’s in the moments we choose to push harder, that we see incredible results.