Using Accountability to Our Advantage

As a trainer we take on many roles in our clients lives. In addition to teaching exercises, anatomy, and programming workouts; we talk about nutrition, water intake, sleeping habits, relationships, work, kids, self esteem, etc, but one of the most important aspects of personal training is accountability. I love what I do and I believe that the quality of each workout matters, but I also recognize that accountability is responsible for a large portion of a clients results!

Even some of the most self motivated individuals could benefit from someone holding them accountable every now and then. Most of us know what we "should" do, (this applies to most choices in life) but often we need someone to hold our feet to the fire. 

How can we use accountability in our lives outside of personal training to help us make the "right" choices?

1. Define your goal. (even if it's simple, I needed someone to hold me accountable to flossing every night, not just most nights, but every night!)

2. Start telling people about it (if you don't feel comfortable sharing it with everyone, write it down).

3. Think about why this "thing" is hard for you to stick with on your own and how someone could possibly support you. Brain storm some strategies.

4. Decide what your schedule is for checking in and if you need someone to be "your person." Talk to them about a plan. (i.e: if I don't bring Seth a piece of floss so that we can floss together by 9pm, he goes and gets one for me).

I know my flossing example is lame, but I want to make it clear that it doesn't have to be big thing. I also want to emphasize that no victory is too small to celebrate. All of these little "wins" like flossing every day, or drinking enough water help us bolster our confidence to take on the bigger challenges in life. Sometimes we weigh ourselves down with self doubt and guilt of past choices, but to improve our odds at achieving the things we find most challenging we must have faith in ourselves, a support system and a PLAN! Go get those dreams using accountability to your advantage!!