The Importance of Accountability

We’ve just spoken about the rewards system you should implement into your routine, and next on the list is accountability. In other words, you need some form of negative consequences to succeed.

We’re not going to talk about the various punishments that you can dish out to yourself at this stage. Instead, we’re going to talk about how you can hold yourself accountable through others. If you have someone else that knows and lives through your journey, you will know that each time you fail you aren’t just letting yourself down, but someone else. This is crucially important.

Some people call this reliance on others a multi-layered approach to accountability. It’s a way to ensure that it’s not all about you. This system generally comes in two forms, which we will now look at.

Your single buddy

In some ways, this first stage is really simple as you only need to find a single person to help you along your way. At the same time, finding someone that ticks all of the boxes and is going to be your ultimate sidekick is arguably easier said than done.

When we talk about the requirements of said person, it’s really all about finding someone who you can team up with and face your fitness goals together. This person might not have the exact same fitness goals, but that’s not necessarily crucial.

What is crucial is that you train together and bounce off each other for support. If you decide to not go to the gym one day, you’ll find that you’re not just letting yourself down but also your buddy. This tends to encourage you to eradicate all of those no-show days that might currently blight your schedule.

From a moral perspective, when the going does get tough, tapping into someone who has positive energy and can just encourage you is vital as well. Sure, some people will succeed alone, but in general the best success stories come from people who have teamed up with a buddy.

Your support network

The second stage, and arguably one that’s even more important, is your support network. This isn’t necessarily people who are going to hold your hand every step of the way, but a “team” which we will be there from time to time to help you along your way.

This team can be comprised of a range of people and similarly to what we have been talking about through this chapter, the aim is for them to push you when things aren’t exactly going to plan.

We should also add a caveat at this point. While some people might plaster their story all over Instagram and make things as public as possible, this is by no means a requirement.

This really will vary between people and while some of you might find this the right way as you feel that you don’t want to let people down, others might prefer to keep things under wraps and wait for the compliments regarding your progress to happen naturally.

There really isn’t a right answer, although we would suggest that you at least build up a small support network to help you get the best from your plan.

Let’s now take a look at some of the key components that can make up your support network.

The friends and family factor

It doesn’t matter what topic we’re talking about, ensuring that you have the support of your nearest and dearest is of absolute paramount importance. They are the people who you spend the biggest chunks of your day with and as such, they are the people who can have the biggest impact on your lifestyle.

You’ve also got to consider this part from a practical point of view. Up until now, you might have been the guy or girl who was always happy to accept social invitations – usually of the food or drink variety. Whether it was beers or pizzas, you were a ‘yes’ man.

Suddenly, now you have your new-look lifestyle, this isn’t necessary the case. People might get offended if they don’t know the true reasons and may effectively feel like they are “losing you”.

If you can get these people on-board from the get-go, problems such as the above are far less likely to occur. You may even find that these people want to join you on your journey, and change their own lives, which is probably the best result you can ask for. If not, your principal aim here is to get them understanding your aims and exactly what direction you are looking to head in.

Make sure the office knows as well

It’s not just about your home and social life though. We spend large portions of our day with co-workers and as such, they can also have a huge impact on your new lifestyle as well.

Something that we can all relate to is the sheer amount of junk food that is brought into offices. Whether its birthday cakes, or sweets from someone’s latest vacation, temptation regularly gets the better of us. Suffice to say, when people start to realize that you’re no longer digging in to such luxuries, questions are going to be asked.

This is why it’s important to tell those colleagues who are closest to you. A brief daily conversation can be enough here, and help keep everyone informed about your new lifestyle and the new, healthy you. Not only will the invitations for birthday cake grind to a halt, but you might get some encouragement as well.

The online announcement

This final method isn’t going to be universally popular and in truth, is only going to appeal to a select number of you. We’ve touched upon the internet, and various social networks, through the course of this guide and now it’s time again.

Some of you will create a blog to document your progress, including measurements and your general thoughts, while others might turn to something like Facebook or Instagram. Both bring a huge degree of accountability into your journey and while it won’t be your primary aim, we should point out that some people have made careers out of documenting their fitness projects.