Accountability partners have been the cornerstone of goal achievement that a number of successful entrepreneurs swear by. It’s that maxim: “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” There also has been a rise of something called Mastermind Groups that are backed by business growth consultants.
Sometimes you don’t have the luxury (or the proximity) to the right people who can help get you to the next level, though you can find that one person who could help you with one thing. Not a worry. You can assume the task of “auditor.”
Either way, following these three steps would get you closer to your best self.
1. Decide the one thing you’d like to work on yourself
For example, for me, sleep is essential (I have learned I need at least seven hours of sleep). However, there are times when my waking and sleeping time slip. So I’d benefit with having that one person who’d be constantly checking on me in that area.
2. Reach out to your network
An example given by Charlie Houpert when he mentioned the guys from MTV’s “The Buried Life” (Ben Nemtin, Dave Lingwood, Duncan Penn and Jonnie Penn) were able to successfully play basketball with Barack Obama by just walking around the streets of D.C. talking to as many people as they could which eventually led them one contact after another until they were at a court with Obama. Isn’t our network a reflection of our net worth? Even if you instantly don’t get a hit within your network, there may be a possibility of an introduction (“your guy knows a guy”).
3.) Keep working on yourself in the meantime
No accountability partner yet? That’s OK. Keep finding ways how you can get that 1% progress. For me it is to keep track of my sleeping and waking time so my mind would be constantly reminded that two hours from now is sleeping time. (After a number of tests — and wishful thinking — I’ve realised that the sleeping waking time that would be a lot easier for me to handle would be 11 p.m./6 a.m.)
Number 3 is particularly important as you wouldn’t want to just use the lack of an accountability partner to stop you from improving yourself in a specific area. So if I get to sort out my sleeping schedule consistently for two to three months and the right person gets introduced to me? Well… I might be able to introduce that person to a contact who either needs that same support.
Just like the best workout plan is to have at least another person working out with you, so is the strategy to get you to your best self.