The Benefits of an Accountability Partner

Have you ever found yourself in a slump? Life is stale. Your creativity feels similar to a dry creek. There are things you want to do but can’t seem to find the motivation. If this is where you stand, it may be time to get an Accountability Partner. 

Often, having an Accountability Partner is something you would do from a professional standpoint. However, when learning to live a Simple Life, a personal Accountability Partner comes in handy. 

Listen in to learn more about why you should have an accountability partner, who It should be, and the benefits having one can make in moving in a positive direction. 

Association for Financial Counseling & Planning Education®

Transcript

Have you ever found yourself in a slump? Life is stale. Your creativity feels similar to a dry creek. There are things you want to do but can’t seem to find the motivation. If this is where you stand, it may be time to get an Accountability Partner. 

Often, having an Accountability Partner is something you would do from a professional standpoint. However, when learning to live a Simple Life, a personal Accountability Partner comes in handy. 

You have heard John Dunne’s quote ‘No man is an island’. Basically, he is saying that at least to some degree, we can’t always do everything alone. Everyone needs to depend on others from time to time. 

And when we embark on a new life journey, such as shifting to living a Simple Life, it helps to have someone out there who is like-minded, interested in taking their own Simple Life journey to the next step, and to know they are there to help, motivate, offer encouragement, and support, and give us a push when needed. In turn, we offer them the same thing.

To understand what an accountability partner is, you must first know how to define Accountability. According to Dictionary.com, to be accountable means to be “subject to the obligation to report, explain, or justify something; responsible; answerable.”

An accountability partner is someone who is on a similar journey. This person can be a friend, family member, or even a professional counterpart.

But how exactly can having someone like this help? An Accountability Partner is someone who will help you brainstorm ideas, create goals and follow through with them, and be there when the going gets tough. Some other ways an Accountability Partner can help you along your journey are through:

·        Inspiration

·        Motivation

·        Encouragement/Support

·        Reminder

·        Planning

·        Finding a way around obstacles

·        Playing the game of Devil’s Advocate

Now that you know what an accountability partner is, and how they can help, the next thing is to choose the best person for the job. 

First and foremost, the best person to join forces with as an Accountability Partner is one who has similar goals. You want someone you get along well with, as you will be spending quite a bit of time with them. And you need someone who is willing to work with you, as there can be quite a bit of give and take in this type of partnership.

There are three schools of thought on who would make the best Accountability partner. 

School of Thought #1: This is someone who has similar interests and goals. When it comes to having and being an Accountability partner, it helps to have someone who fully understands your goals. They have knowledge of the steps you want to take in your journey, and have either already traversed that road, or is willing to help you research what it will take. 

This person can help you through the pitfalls and around the obstacles with their experience. They may also be interested in achieving the same goal. If this is the case, you can work together to achieve it. 

School of Thought #2: Someone who has completely different interests and goals. This person can be a bit more difficult to work with. Their goals and interests may be opposite of yours, so it can create a bit of misunderstanding, uncertainty, and inability to help. 

On the flip side of this coin, someone who has an opposite approach to life may be better at helping you play Devil’s Advocate and will more quickly help you see pitfalls and obstacles. They will also bring a different viewpoint to the table more often than not, which can help you think through your objectives more clearly.

School of Thought #3 involves finding a workable way to combine Schools of Thought 1 and 2. Not everyone has the same goals, interests, or life objectives. Although some may be similar, there is enough difference to keep your Accountability meetings interesting. You gain the advantage of that different viewpoint, but still keep the basic understanding of WHY you have set certain goals intact. 

The next question you may be asking is why go to all the trouble of having an accountability partner? Well, you know I have an answer for you.

To help you better understand the benefits of having an Accountability Partner, this example shared by the Association for Financial Counseling & Planning Education® may help. And, by the way, you can find their link in the show notes.

Here is what they said:

“The researchers found that individuals have the following probabilities of completing a goal by taking these actions:

·        Having an idea or goal: 10% likely to complete the goal

·        Consciously deciding that you will do it: 25%

·        Deciding when you will do it: 40%

·        Planning how to do it: 50%

·        Committing to someone that you will do it: 65%

·        Having a specific accountability appointment with someone you’ve committed to: you are 95% more likely to complete the goal”

Having a goal in mind is great. It’s the first step to being successful in any endeavor. But when it comes to following through, many of us give up almost before we finish writing out the goal. And our excuses for that are many:

·        It’s going to be too difficult

·        It’s going to take too much time

·        There isn’t enough money to pursue it

·        Oh! I forgot! I’m already busy that day…

(Yep. That particular ‘day’ is booked on my calendar, too. In fact, I think it is overbooked by about 106 hours…)

When you find an Accountability Partner that is a good fit, your chances of success increase greatly.  It keeps us from feeling we are on this road alone. They offer encouragement and support when the road gets rough and are right beside you when you reach your destination. In fact, they will probably be the one to brings the confetti, balloons, and cake!

Now that you know the what, who, and why, it’s time to have your first Accountability meeting. Come prepared with a notebook and pen to keep notes. 

The first thing to determine is where you will meet. This can be just about anywhere. The first consideration is that it be somewhere quiet where you can talk and plan. This can be in your home, a coffee shop, park, or even a library. Wherever it is, it needs to have easy access for both of you. It also needs to be quiet, so you can think, talk, and even laugh out loud if necessary.

One of my accountability partners lives out of state. But that doesn’t stop us. We just meet at least one day a week through a Zoom meeting. These work just as well as face-to-face.

One of the biggest tendencies we have when meeting with a friend or family member is to chat. We want to catch up, laugh together, discuss the latest project, and just have fun. 

An Accountability meeting doesn’t mean you can’t. However, you need to keep it to a minimum. This meeting should be dedicated to working on plans, goals, and ideas. If necessary, use the last few minutes of your accountability meeting to schedule a fun day together, and use this time for serious progress.

You need to determine a time frame for your meetings. For the most productive meeting, you need at least 45 minutes to an hour. It can be longer if you are working on a big goal, project, or brainstorming ideas.

Each person will need time talk.  At best, you will both be allotted the same amount of time. However, one of you may be in good shape, and only needing feedback on one or two things. The other may be at the beginning and need more time. 

Other than the first meeting, where you work on meeting times, agendas, and the scope of what you want to accomplish, each person should walk away with a list of things that will be accomplished that week. And truthfully, even after the first meeting you should have at least a short homework assignment.

The next thing that will help is to create an agenda for the meeting. This may seem like a formal approach, but it also speaks to your desire to make your simple lifestyle work for you.

You may want to set up your agenda similar to this:

First 5 to 10 minutes:                            Visit and Catch Up

Partner 1 (5 to 10 minutes):               Review last week’s meeting/List of Things to Do

                                                                             If something wasn’t accomplished, give reasons why

                                                                             If something was accomplished, find out how it went

 Repeat the same process for the second partner.

 The next 15 to 30 minutes (more if needed) should be set aside for  Brainstorming, idea swaps, Discussion, encouragement, and Support.

The last 10 to 15 minutes should be spent having each partner list their goals for the next week.

Your agenda doesn’t have to be exactly like this. You and your Accountability Partner can discuss how you want to lay it out to work best for you. But having at least some type of agenda will help keep your meetings on track. 

The next question you may be asking is how often should you meet with your Accountability partner? That depends.

Annie is my blogging accountability partner, and we meet once a week. There is a tremendous number of changes in the blogging world, and we prefer to keep on top of them. This prevents us from having to go back in and spend hours doing technology and tracking adaptations.

 Blogging also requires a tremendous amount of creativity. Our weekly meetings not only help us to stay on track, but we also serve as sounding boards for each other, as well as offer creative ideas for blog posts, podcasts, videos, products, and freebies. 

Because of the sheer volume of work and information, we have chosen to meet once a week. Each meeting can last between 20 minutes and 2 hours, depending on what we are working on. 

For a Simple Life Accountability meeting, you can choose your meeting frequency. My recommendation is to do it at least every two weeks, although once a week may work best for you. If you meet every two weeks in person, then schedule a check in by phone on the week you don’t meet.

What I DO NOT recommend is having meetings on a monthly basis only. If there are time constraints for either person, once a month can be okay. But be sure you still check in with each other at least once a week. 

I also don’t recommend having them more often than once a week. You need time to complete the tasks on your List of Things to Do. Some may be quick, but others may take time, effort, and considerable thought to make the finished project successful. 

Regardless of whether it is weekly, every two weeks, or monthly, do schedule at least a phone call later in the week to check on each other. This can be a time to ask how their progress is going, to ask questions, or get/give support and encouragement.

Now it’s time to dig a little deeper. An Accountability Partner can turn into one of the greatest assets and relationships you can have. Over a period of time, you will begin to know your Accountability Partner on a deeper, more personal level. You will discover their abilities, likes, and dislikes. There will be times you are better able to read between the lines, and determine if something is a true weakness, a lack of interest (regardless of what they say), or if the issue is more of a Shiny Object Syndrome to prevent them from working on the hard things life has a way of tossing in the mix. 

What you are doing is creating a deeper bond with someone who has like-minded goals. With a stronger bond also comes the ability to hurt feelings more easily. No one ever wants to feel as if they are a disappointment or can’t measure up. As within any relationship, always be respectful, understanding, and compassionate.

Remember there is a difference between Critiquing and Criticism. To critique something is to “evaluate (a theory or practice) in a detailed and analytical way.” Criticism can be harsh: “the expression of disapproval of someone or something based on perceived faults or mistakes.”

When offering a differing viewpoint, be sure you are critiquing, not criticizing. This can be done by carefully choosing your words. It may also help to interpret any critiquing as a game of Devil’s Advocate. This is when you offer a completely opposite (and often negative) viewpoint in order to determine the true strength of the opposing view. Often this is also considered a game of ‘What If’s’, or ‘If This Then That’. 

No matter what you call it, it helps to think ahead of what an issue in a plan could possibly be so you will better be able to avoid or overcome the obstacle when you get to it. 

Shifting your lifestyle from hectic, busy, and overwhelming to one that is simple, quiet, and fulfilling is a great choice to make. But with any changes you make in life, it can come with uncertainty, new lessons learned, and a twinge of fear. 

Instead of taking a step back, move forward with determination. Find an Accountability Partner, and help each other overcome the obstacles, share in the joy, and find encouragement to take the next step in your Simple Life journey. 

If you want to learn more about living a Simple Life, just visit my website at www.thefarmwife.com/ . If you’re enjoying listening to these podcasts, you can support the show by clicking the SUPPORT button in the show notes. When you do, you’ll be helping me continue bringing you fun and helpful ideas for living the Simple Life you love!

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Thanks again for stopping in. I will see you next week on Living a Simple Life with a Back Porch View. And while you are waiting for the next episode, grab that glass of refreshment, pull up a rocker, and sit back for a while. It’s time to relax and enjoy.