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I hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday season and new year.

If you are like me, you start off the new year by creating New Year’s Resolutions.

If you are like the majority of people, these resolutions fail even before it is time to turn the next page on the calendar.

We all start off the New Year with good intentions, especially when we view January 1st as the day to wipe the slate clean of our past transgressions.

However these good intentions rapidly fade and we slip back into old habits, which indeed die hard.

Much like every other thing in life, the journey to your goals is far more achievable, and even more enjoyable, when you are not going at it alone.

When you have someone whom you are accountable to, you tend to tough things out much longer before throwing in the towel.

What makes a relationship with an accountability partner even more successful is if your partner is also striving to reach similar goals.

It then truly becomes a symbiotic partnership with the sum being far greater than the individual parts.

By holding each other accountable you are far more likely to push through any obstacles encountered and tolerate any of the lows that are bound to happen during your transformative journeys.

Anyone can qualify as a suitable accountability partner, your spouse, your friend, your parents, your children.

Heck even complete strangers can be considered accountability partners with online support groups created for just that very purpose.

Holding yourself accountable to others is the reason why many 12 step programs are so successful.

My fiancee is my accountability partner.

People who know me know that I have never hidden my disdain for exercise.

Even though they say that 30 to 45 minutes of exercise a day prolongs life, I feel that if that extra life gained is equivalent to the time you spent exercising, did we really gain anything?

In fact I might say in this scenario you actually come out far worse, trading more valuable current time exercising just to gain less valuable future time, but I digress.

Back to my disdain for exercise.

If I had a choice to exercise or not, I choose not every time.

In fact if you ever see me running you need to start running right away too because there is a high probability that it is because there is a threat chasing me.

But reluctantly I do exercise, mainly on the elliptical, because if I don’t my love for the finer things in life (mainly food) will definitely take its toll on my body.

I have gotten into a habit where I message my fiancee after I do an elliptical workout (usually 1 hour session, 3-4 times a week, burning around 620-650 calories).

It is not like she is on pins and needles waiting for this message.

No this message is mainly for my benefit.

I feel bad if I did not work out on a day I could have and not send her a message.

Other times my fiancee is my accountability partner for yard work.

I remember a couple of months ago I got up in the morning and felt ambitious to tackle some of the yard work I had put off (with 7+ acres of property prior to me selling off the guest house, yard work can be quite intense).

I casually mentioned, first thing in the morning, to my fiancee that I had such and such planned with the yard.

And then life happened.

After breakfast, I thought well maybe I should relax a bit first, before the upcoming grind, and catch up on some TV since it was the weekend.

Big mistake.

Lying on the couch, belly full, I really did not want to move for the rest of the day.

That early morning ambition quickly waned and couch potato mode was really making a strong case.

But I remembered what I messaged to my fiancee, and because I now felt that I was accountable to her, I reluctantly got myself up and got in to my yard working clothes.

I completed all the tasks I had wanted to do and was proud to let her know what I accomplished after.

If not for that early morning message, I guarantee you none of that would have occurred.

Takeaway.

As the new year is just in its infancy, I hope the resolutions you made on December 31st are still fresh in your mind.

Rather than hold only yourself accountable for these resolutions, make an effort to share these resolutions with an accountability partner and likewise offer your services to anyone who would benefit from a similar arrangement.

Although sometimes there are things where being a lone wolf can benefit you, for the majority of times it is far safer to be part of a wolf pack.

 

 

Note:

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Even a steadfast DIY’er can sometimes gain benefit from the occasional professional input.

 

 

-Xrayvsn