Accountability

One of the big ways that coaches are helpful on your journey is that they provide a layer of accountability for you. Especially in week one, it can be VERY difficult to stay on-task with your goals. Humans resist change with everything in them, even if it's change for the better. Having someone to answer to will help you push away temptation in the first week or maybe even the first several weeks.

However, outside accountability is not enough. If you make your decisions based only on outside accountability, over time you will become resentful and rebellious toward the person helping to hold you accountable. You may even find yourself lying to them in order to escape what will feel like an oppressive set of expectations. This doesn't do anything positive for your health and will probably even create a negative effect!

This is why it is so important to have your own goals and reasons for pursuing health in your life. You have to know what's in the deal for you, and you have to believe that your reward is worth the price you will pay. Still, outside accountability is also crucial. You must be a person who keeps your word because if you are not, it will be impossible to see yourself in a positive light and - as we discussed in the Self Image post - your attitude toward yourself ultimately determines your success in any endeavor.

You also cannot only be accountable to yourself, you do need that outside accountability. It is too easy for us to give ourselves excuses - and to accept the excuses we give ourselves! We tell ourselves things like "It's not a big deal if I don't eat healthy today, because I've been eating healthy all month." Then the next day we say "Two days out of a month won't hurt." Suddenly two becomes three and three becomes seven and before you know it you've stacked six months of unhealthy eating up and undone all of the progress you'd already made. It is too easy for us as humans to be too easy on ourselves when it comes to following through on the right habits. We need someone on the outside who loves and encourages us, and who can say "That's your second piece of cake, Laura. Put it down and walk away."

With the right combination of accountability to others and accountability to yourself and your goals, you can do amazing things! Let me give you an example:

I recently committed to finishing a marathon in June of next year. Under the advisement of someone much more experienced than I am and with the permission of those I made this commitment to, I've backed it down to a half marathon because it's my first time doing something like this. I really want to see this through, because marathons and even half marathons have always been in that "other people do this, but I can't" box in my mind. I want to complete the half marathon next year because it's going to be challenging and I want to prove that I can rise to that challenge. I want to prove, for myself, that there isn't this whole category of fun things that I just can't do. That's really important to me. I've made out my training plan and every morning (starting in July) I'm going to get out there and follow my plan no matter what obstacles I have to overcome in order to do it. I'm going to do this for myself, to make myself strong enough to reach my goal.

I am not the only one counting on my ability to follow through with my training schedule. I know that if I only have myself to answer to, it will be very easy for me to sometimes say "I'm tired, I'll do it later today," and then "It's too late, I'll do it tomorrow." Because I know this and because I know that every day in my training schedule counts, I've enlisted other people to help me be accountable. Not only am I accountable to finish the half marathon next June because there's a group of people who are counting on me to do so, but I am also accountable to the many different people who I have promised to train with. It may be easy for me to tell myself "It's okay to rest this week because I did so well last week." But because I am a person who keeps my word, I will not call someone I've promised to train with and say "I'm just feeling tired today. I know yesterday was the day scheduled for rest, but I'm going to take today too." Instead I will show up on time to meet my partners, give it my best effort, and be happy to do so.

There is an added benefit to this dual accountability, and that is the way it lends itself to victory. I know that I will feel much better about myself when I train even if I'm tired than I will if I allow myself to take extra days off. I also know that- all on my own - I'm not committed enough to be able to get out and train every time without help, and that if I only rely on someone else's commitment I will start to resent them for pushing me to be my best. However, if I stay committed to my goal and on the days that my commitment isn't strong enough I lean on the support of the commitment of my friends, I will end every training day feeling accomplished and victorious.

Be an accountable person, both to yourself and to other people. You'll be amazed by the wonders it will work on your self image and your chances for success.