Accountability. Something most of us need when trying to reach a new goal or create a new habit. Since we are a couple of weeks into the New Year it’s a good time to see if what you are doing so far to reach your goals for 2020 is working.
One thing that can be extremely helpful is creating accountability. There are several ways to do this.
First, an Accountability Buddy. This could be a spouse, friend, child or parent. Anyone that will support and encourage you to keep going.
For example, one of my clients made a goal to walk 10,000 steps a day for 60 days. She set it up so that if she didn’t reach her goal every day her daughter would get $100. Her daughter could check to see if her mom was reaching her steps for her day and give her encouragement when she was lagging behind.
Another client of mine gets up at 5 am and walks 3 miles a day with her neighbor every day. They are each other’s accountability partner!
I have several clients that meet their friends at Weight Watchers every week. They do this to encourage each other and help each other to stay on track.
Having someone that you are accountable to can be hugely helpful in keeping the goal in sight and remind you to keep going even in the tough spots.
For me, an accountability buddy does not work. I love to make lists, and use stickers and checkmarks. So, I use a bullet journal or an accountability chart. For me, this makes accountability fun.
Each Sunday I sit down and right out my yearly goals. Then my weekly break down of those goals. This can change weekly depending on what progress or regression I’ve made. These little mini weekly goals help me to realize what is working and what I need to change.
After setting those intentions for the week I then create a chart. It looks like this.
I know super fancy! Since my week varies I then sit down and look over the coming week. In my calendar I outline at what time I’ll do a specific workout.
Now this is key and a suggestion I often make to my clients – These are appointments in my mind. They are not changeable. They are not negotiable. If someone calls me to meet up for tea at my workout time the answer is no. If, in that slot, my husband wants to talk about the Zags game from the night before he has to do it while I’m lifting some weights.
Make it an absolute priority for that time and day.
I find the bullet journal to be helpful in several ways. One, I can look at the week and see how I did. Two, if I get sidetracked or sick then I have a reference to get me back on track. Three, it helps me to refine the weekly goals. Sometimes a type of workout is just not working or the reality is I don’t have time for 5 days of cardio. This chart helps me to take a step back and look at what is working and what is not.
It’s important to realize adjusting your goals does not mean failure. It just means a different path might be needed.
While this simple little chart works for me it may not be what works for you. There are so many ways to track your workout goals for 2020.
It could just be a gold star on your calendar when you did your walk for the day or a big fancy chart that you color in. There are a lot of options.
If you want to look at some other examples go to Pinterest and search either accountability chart or habit tracker. Both will give you a ton of options. It might take a while to find what really works for you.
If you have something that works for you feel free to share below! Would love to hear how you stay accountable.
Look for our blog next month when we explore the WHY of goal setting.