The Accountability Checklist

Everyone can benefit from accountability. It can be very hard to stay self-motivated all the time. Having an accountability partner, allows us to have faster results and more encouragement and motivation when we need it.

However, before you set up an accountability partnership, be mindful of a few things.

Self-Assessment

• Determine your personality strengths and weaknesses to decide how your accountability partner can best help you.
• Choose a partner with different strengths and weaknesses than you. If both of you are procrastinators, it will be difficult to stay on track. If both of you are people-pleasers, it will struggle to give and receive tough love when it is needed.

Expectations

• Once you determine your own expectations for an accountability partnership, be clear with your partner.
• Determine the most effective communication for the 2 of you – phone, email, or text.
• How long will the communication time be?
• Will the communication time include socializing or just being goal-focused? If you and your partner have different views on how the communication time will be used, it can be frustrating and ineffective.

Recording and Sharing Goals

• Set up a designated system for recording your goals and action steps.
• Decide how many action steps you want to work on each week.
• Commit to an agreed time for the two of you to communicate.
• During communication time, record your goals and action plans as well as your partner’s goals and action plans.
• Determine how your partner can best help you when you don’t accomplish your goals.

Finding an Accountability Partner

• Consider others who have like-minded goals.
• Check social media groups that you are a part of or ask friends to recommend someone.
• Be sure to consider the time zones that both of you live in.

The Biggest Mistakes to Avoid for Accountability Partnerships

• Do not pick a family member or close friend for a partner. Usually, someone close to you will give too much grace and not push you to move forward when you get stuck.
• Don’t start a partnership without clear guidelines and expectations. Be specific on how best the partnership will benefit both of you.
• Do not begin any partnership without determining a trial period. The two of you can decide on a ‘test period’ to see if the partnership will be a good fit for you. Two months can definitely give you enough time to decide if the partnership is working for both of you. At the end of the trial period, the two of you can evaluate if things are working. Be honest with your partner if changes should be implemented or if the partnership just simply isn’t a good fit.