Welcome back! This week’s article will cover goal achievement from a new angle. I’m going to walk through a different option for helping you to achieve those goals by answering two questions. 1. What is an accountability partner? And 2. Why do you need one?
What Is An Accountability Partner?
I stumbled across the idea when I read The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod. This book is fantastic and was the key to me joining the 5am club. It also showed me how to focus on my goals by making sure my morning routine is productive. The biggest takeaway I had from this book, though, was the concept of an accountability partner.
According to wikipedia, an accountability partner is “a person who coaches another person in terms of helping the other person keep a commitment”. The term was made popular in the ‘90s and has since expanded from people struggling with pornography addiction to everything from fitness to business endeavors.
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How Can An Accountability Partner Help?
Accountability partners are more than the wikipedia definition would suggest. I don’t see an accountability partner as a coach. Instead, I think of a friend that’s cheering you on, always encouraging you to do your best. The real value comes from the consistency of meetings with them. I have two one-hour calls every week, one with each of my accountability partners.
Let’s dive into how my accountability partners have helped me become a more productive, all-around better person.
Accountability Partners Hold You Accountable
No duh, right? It’s an important thing to mention, though. The purpose of an accountability partner is to cheer you on and celebrate your wins with you, but it isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. An accountability partner is also there to make you feel uncomfortable when you didn’t live up to your end of the bargain.
This is one of the biggest keys to success with the program. When you commit to completing a goal you aren’t just telling yourself that you’ll do it. You’re also committing to your partner that you’re going to complete it. This is a very powerful way to ensure that there’s a feeling of guilt if you don’t follow through. On the tail end of this, it’s your accountability partner’s job is to ask a difficult question if the goal isn’t met: “Why not?”
It sucks to be asked that question, especially when you don’t have a good reason. And therein lies the value: you’re incentivized to follow through because of the commitment you made. I’ve done so much more in my life than I would have otherwise thanks to my weekly accountability calls.
Accountability Partners Can Inspire
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had an idea thanks only to my accountability calls. I’ve started (and stuck with) this blog, completed 75 Hard and decided to help others with their fitness journeys, and developed investment strategies and solutions that build wealth toward my early retirement to name a few. Many of my ideas would have been passing thoughts if they even crossed my mind.
With my accountability partners, though, I’m able to explore these thoughts with another person that is equally invested. I know that they’ll help me to expand on the ideas and build realistic goals to work toward. And if I don’t get it done? They’ll ask me that awful question: “Why not?”.
Consistency With Accountability Builds Consistency In Life
Having these calls regularly, without fail, has helped me to build an appreciation for consistency and routines in my life. Like anything new, I was apprehensive when I started having accountability calls. My first accountability partner was an experienced real estate investor that I barely knew. To add to that, I was a rookie investor that just finished my first property. Over time, though, the calls expanded from a 30 minute discussion about goals to an hour-long discussion about personal life, ambitions, adventures, and goals.
This had a tremendous effect on my day-to-day life. I started sticking with things and seeing them flourish. Normally I’d be excited at the start only to see that excitement to wear off after a week or two as I moved on to the next exciting thing. I now know, and have felt, the impact and value of consistency in all things. I discovered how to beat the “boring middle”, and my life is infinitely better for it.
You’ll Accomplish More Than You Think
If you find and stick with a good accountability partner, someone that will be supportive but also critical when needed, then I am 100% confident that you’ll find yourself accomplishing more in life than you ever would have expected. It requires commitment and a willingness to receive feedback, but man is it awesome to hop on that call and say how well you did. Anyone can do this, assuming you’re willing to put yourself out there to find someone that also wants to improve.
The Potential For Amazing Friendships
I’ve been doing this with my good friend Jed, a classmate from when I was working toward my MBA, for around 6 months. My other accountability partner, Jordan, is also a good friend. He’s a real estate investor (now in the Nashville area) that has been a great resource and source of inspiration in my own real estate investing journey. Jordan has been on board with our weekly calls for nearly 4.5 years. And the crazy thing? We’ve only missed 1, maybe 2 calls in that time. No joke. You’ll notice that I listed both of them as good friends – that’s the main point I want to discuss.
Jordan, Real Estate Investor and Owner of Three60 Properties
Jordan and I didn’t know each other before agreeing to become accountability partners. We were familiar with one another thanks to our local Real Estate Investor Association (REIA) group, but we hadn’t really met or properly connected. So how did we wind up as accountability partners and friends?
Jordan and I were discussing Miracle Morning at one meetup and he brought up the idea of accountability partners, suggesting that we give it a shot to see if it helps us with our investing goals. 4.5 years later, I can happily say that I still wake up every Monday morning looking forward to our call at 7am so we can catch up, discuss the prior week’s progress (or lack thereof), and talk about our goals for the coming week.
Jedediah, Attorney and Owner of Supernus Law
Jed and I became friends in college as we worked toward our MBAs, so we had a great friendship already in place when we started our calls. We’d known each other for around 4 years when I asked him if he’d be interested in a weekly accountability call. Being an extremely ambitious and goal-oriented guy, he was all in.
My calls with Jed are always fun opportunities to bounce ideas off one another, but I also learn so much from these calls as he shares his experiences as an attorney that owns and runs his own law firm, Supernus Law. Our Wednesday calls often run closer to an hour and a half, but the conversations are so enjoyable and productive that I barely notice the time go by.
There’s a famous quote that I fully subscribe to that really resonates with me:
You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.
Jim Rohn
Accountability partners are amazing, but the friendships I’ve either found or strengthened with the process are the real reward for me. Jed and Jordan are important parts of my average and help me to be a better person with every phone call.
How Can I Find An Accountability Partner?
Interested in finding an accountability partner but not sure where to start? Here are my recommendations!
- Look at your friend group and think about whether anyone would be a good accountability partner. Remember that they should be focused on goals as well, reliable, and above all comfortable giving and receiving feedback on their performance week-to-week
- If no one in your friend group would be a good fit or interested, think about what you want to accomplish and take a look at some related groups that are similarly focused. Meetup.com is a great place to start looking for groups that are focused on anything from fitness to D&D.
- When looking at potential accountability partners, remember that they don’t have to be focused on the same goals you are! The key here is to push each other to successfully meet your individual goals.
The biggest recommendation for me in finding success with accountability partners is to stay consistent. It can be easy to justify not having the call because “things”, but if something comes up move the call to another day. Consistency is key here – make sure you (and your partner) show up and I’m positive you’ll crush those goals!
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