Entering 2021: 5 Tips to Keeping Yourself Accountable

It’s that familiar time of year where everyone you know pulls out their vision boards, their crisp new planners, and brand new set of dumbbells. I’m not one to jump on bandwagons, however for the last ten years or so I have always made new year resolutions and have stuck to them like glue. It takes a great deal of willpower, however once you set your mind on something you can really achieve anything. I know it sounds so cliche, but you have to truly believe it.

My end-of-the-year-wrap-up, and beginning-of-the-year-kick-off items are centred around personal growth (using our ‘Personal Planning’ workbook) and business ambitions (our ‘Roadmap to Success’ workbook).

Here are some of the things (bare bones) from my workbooks that I reflect on with my family at the end of each year:

1. What we were proud of.

2. What memories we had (good, bad, ugly).

3. What made us tick.

4. What we learned about ourselves and each other.

5. What we would never do again and eliminate from our lives.

6. What we want to accomplish in the new year (personally, with family, and professionally).

7. What we will do daily to reach those goals.

Now to some of you, this may seem a little over the top or maybe even a nerdy couple thing to do. I look forward to doing this with my husband every year. This exercise takes a few hours, however it’s something we have committed to doing every year.

Now before you go shopping for a new planner, go and take a look at your 2020 or 2019 planner. I know that a lot of us spent time planning out 2020 and almost NONE of those plans took place due to Covid, however it is important to ask yourself whether you are serious about committing to the changes you plan on making for the upcoming year. There is no point going on a shopping spree at Chapters for a new planner and journals if you have no intention of actually following up with yourself.

Here are a few things that you can do to keep yourself accountable:

1. Schedule a weekly meeting with yourself. I started scheduling meetings with my staff in the last quarter of this year and let me tell you, it was a game changer! Staff meetings are now an essential part of my business and I will never operate without them. Not only was this beneficial for my business, but it kept me accountable as well. I had to prepare for these meetings in advance, I had to make sure that their tasks were laid out for them. I put work into preparing these meetings. I also took this time to look at my own personal calendar and outline what I wanted to accomplish that week. I used my 2020 planner to list what my tasks were and would check in with myself on Wednesdays (mid-week) to see how close I was to finishing those tasks.
   

2. Be reasonable with yourself Rome wasn’t built in a day. You need to be reasonable with yourself and schedule your day with a “max goal” and a “min goal”. A max goal is a term I came up with to tell myself that I had 12 hours to complete x amount of goals that day. Everyday will be different depending on the deadlines and events you have planned. My average is usually a minimum of 4 goals and a max of 6. Doesn’t seem like much, but if you’re reasonable with yourself you will know that you can’t tackle 20 things in a day! And if you can, then all the power to you!
   

3. Self Evaluate Just like you perform evaluations for your staff every quarter, you should check in with yourself at the end of every day. When I put my head on the pillow at night I sleep better knowing I was productive that day. Make it part of your pre-bedtime routine to have a little meeting with yourself and your planner (this will also force you to put that fancy planner to good use) and check off what you did, and what you need to accomplish the next day. If you missed an item, no worries! Don’t beat yourself up over missing one task. Try to at least tackle your goals from your “min goal” list so you are staying on track.
   

4. Time is Money Value your time. Your time is worth a lot and it is best spent becoming 1% better each day. This doesn’t mean that you overwork yourself and never see the light of day. Take breaks, stretch, walk around, do whatever needs to be done to recharge and get back into it. Just don’t spend 3 hours watching cat videos.
   

5. Surround Yourself with Like Minded People Now this might be tough if you’ve been stuck in quarantine and it’s just you and the cats, BUT use the power of social media. There are countless groups in almost every city that cover a variety of niches. Find one that suits your needs and build relationships with like minded people. If you’re a biz owner, whether home based or brick and mortar, life can become very lonely when you don’t have someone to talk to who understands your struggles. Find your people. They are out there and talking to them will do wonders for your mental health!

So there you have it! These are some of the things that I do to keep me going. Remember, success is a journey and everyone’s definition of success will be different. Stick to your goals, keep yourself accountable, and slay!