Do all successful people wake up at 5am every morning? Nope.Do they read 30 books a month? Not that either.Do they hustle and grind 24/7 to make as much money as possible? Not at all.
This practice isn’t a secret, but it’s so simple it is often overlooked.
But what if I told you that this one practice allows you to live your life to the fullest? You can gain more confidence, faster growth, fulfillment, success, and ultimately lead a happier life.
If you knew it’d make you happier, wouldn’t you want to practice too?
But the problem is, most people avoid it.
What’s the one skill all successful AND happy people have?

Personal Accountability.

There are 4 major benefits of personal accountability I want to share with you today because taking ownership for your actions is hard, but you deserve to know the incredible benefits on the other side.

But First, What is Personal Accountability?

If you aren’t taking control of your life, who will?
No one else cares about your life more than you do. If you don’t control your life, you’ll get pulled in different directions people want you in.
Accountability is taking ownership of your actions and things that happen to you. It may be frightening to think of it that way, but it’s encouraging to know your life is in your hands. YOU decide to change what you want.
I have experience with many of my clients and helping them change their perspectives and realize how much power they have in their own lives. Here is what happens when they begin to engrain personal accountability into their life…

1. Show Up & Focus On Doing the Important Stuff Even When Its Hard

The first step of accountability is showing up.
Showing up and doing the thing is hard. When you come face to face with your task, your brain begins to tell you all the possible excuses there are to not complete your goals. You may waver, but remember, if you decide to fall back to old habits, nothing changes.
“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”True Source Unknown (1)
When you hold yourself accountable, you acknowledge the excuses, but don’t let them change your course.
You take control of your day and decide what you want to get out of it. As you show up and focus on the work, you take small steps towards fulfilling your goals.
It is easy to get distracted and fall back on old habits. You can get around it by doing a simple exercise like the one below:
Identify the Goal – You want to be more organized so you tell yourself you want to set a goal of tidying for 15 minutes a day. Once the clock starts, you focus on only tidying and organizing your home. Once the fifteen minutes are up, you’re done for the day.
Identify the small Sacrifice – You spend 15 minutes less sitting and scrolling through your phone.
What happens if you don’t? – If you make a goal of tidying for 15 minutes and don’t follow through, you feel disappointed with yourself and continue to scroll through your phone, but sad.
Imagine the Win – A tidier home you’re proud and happy to look at as you sit back down and scroll on your phone after the 15 minutes are up.

2. Small Every Day Progress to Monumental Changes

Like all habits, accountability is a skill you practice. The more you practice it, the better you get.
“If you get one percent better each day for one year, you’ll end up thirty-seven times better by the time you’re done.” James Clear (2)
For example, tidying your home every day for 15 minutes leads to a tidy and comfortable home all year round.
You may be wondering why I’m talking about tidying. It is because keeping small promises to yourself creates big shifts in your self-worth.
You build trust with yourself and show yourself you can continue doing this task. You notice tasks are no longer hurdles anymore, and they’ve become easier to do. So each time you make a promise to yourself, and you succeed in it, then you do it over and over again, you actually raise your baselines.
Once a practice becomes integrated into who you are, it becomes easier. And it’s something that you no longer have to think about as much.
These sudden wins aren’t so sudden because you’ve actively chosen every day to do them. Tiny changes add up and cause a ripple in your life.
One day, you’ll look back and realize all the moments of accountability you’ve taken changed your life entirely.
It takes consistent work, conscious decision-making, and accountability to bring a goal to life.

3. Accountability Leads to Your Success

No matter the size of your goal, accountability paves the path to success. Promising yourself to do something consistently is NOT easy at all. It takes will power and lots of self-control.
With accountability and consistency, success is in your hands.
You’d even laugh at yourself in the past, thinking that you weren’t going to do something, even when you didn’t feel like it – but you still did.
The goals that didn’t seem attainable before are now right in front of you.
Making small changes that compound on themselves over time into huge waves. Don’t underestimate the power of these actions and how they can really make you feel better in your own home and in your skin.
The secret to success is in these small steps.
If everyone knew it, we’d have more successful people. You should be so proud of yourself because you’re already taking that first step by being here and reading this article.

4. Build Confidence and Feel Proud of Yourself

On top of the success of your goals, you begin to notice inner changes too.
Once you begin holding yourself accountable and show up to do the work, you become more confident. You’ve proven to yourself you’re capable of doing something you never believed you could.
You can’t help but feel proud because you’ve consistently checked off your to-do list and reminded yourself that you have control.
Your confidence grows and works its way through other parts of your life too. You feel more confident in your decisions, in your work, and with yourself. Soon enough, you confidently tackle any future goal, big or small, that comes your way.
You no longer wish your life was a certain way anymore because you know you can make it happen.
Whether your goal is organizing your home or managing your time efficiently, taking responsibility and seeing your actions show you that you’re capable of proving yourself right.
Happiness isn’t something that can be found in a specific product or location. It is present when you see progress within yourself. When you hold yourself accountable, you’re proud to know that you made it possible.

Personal Accountability Isn’t Easy.

It is easy to make excuses, tell yourself you can do it later, and sabotage yourself.
As humans, we are resistant to change; we create excuses for ourselves and say we can do it later and later never comes.
If you do that often, you’re letting yourself down. It leads to frustration, depression, and low self esteem.
But if you follow through with your goals and find yourself completing the goals you set out to do, you reaffirm yourself you can do it.
Personal accountability is difficult, and that’s why having a coach is so effective.
According to the Association for Talent Development, studies show that the likelihood of completing a goal you consciously decide to do is only 25% (3).
When you commit to someone that you’ll do it, it is at 65%.
If you have a specific appointment with someone you’ve committed to, it goes up 30 percent to a 95% chance of completing your goals.
With a coach, you have a 95% chance of completing your tasks and getting closer to your dream life. No matter how big your goals are, your coach works with you to break them down into manageable tasks to build your confidence.
Working with a coach is easy because they have the knowledge and resources to help you fast-track your goals. With a flexible timeline and check-ins, you’re sure to complete your goals with confidence.
If successful and happy people practice accountability and a coach can help you 95% more likely achieve your goals, you’d want to work with a coach too, right?

Warmly,

Jen