EP 19- Arrow Tip Tuesday: Find an Accountablity Partner
Accountability partners for goals are what butter is to coffee, or what collagen is to bone broth or, what cacao nibs are to goat yogurt…you know what I’m saying?? Okay maybe not, if you aren’t as fond of these concoctions as I am. But for real, accountability partners are the bees knees.
An accountability partner is someone you join forces with to hold one another responsible for your respective intentions.
(Side note: In the past, the term “goals” have signified too much rigidity, as I tended to put too much focus on the end result. I like to use the word “intentions”, because it reminds me that the end results are something to aspire to, but they do not define me. It allows me to fully enjoy the process. That’s just my preference, but you can use whatever word you want: goal, intention, result, outcome etc.)
This past offseason, Arrow Liver, professional goalkeeper, and diving-header goal legend Michelle Betos and I were accountability buddies. Each week, we emailed each other what went well in our training, and what we wanted to improve the following week. We chose tasks that we typically struggled to complete on our own, and just needed a little extra push.
One week, my focus was to get back in to the habit of documenting and reflecting upon all of my workouts. Another week, Michelle wanted to improve her ball striking technique. That week, she sent me a text of her foot taped up. Most humans, tape their ankle if it’s injured, but Michelle’s ligaments were fully intact. She taped her foot in order to recondition her brain to strike the ball with her foot in that specific position. That’s Michelle Betos for you. If you haven’t listened to her full podcast , that’s not the craziest thing she’s done to improve her game.
A few weeks after we started this accountability thread, I saw an incredible stat:
A study conducted at Dominican University of California showed that people who wrote down their intentions, shared with a friend, and sent weekly updates to that friend were on average 33% more successful in accomplishing their stated intentions than if they were to keep them to themselves.
Woahhhh. That’s a ⅓ greater likelihood of crushing your dreams!!
Accountability partners are effective because when you tell someone else your intentions, they become more than just about you. This person serves as a greater reason to follow through on the action. Also, this gives you someone who is supportive of you and equally invested in pursuing their own visions. Plus, even if your desired outcomes are different, it’s way more fun to salsa dance together to your dreams.
Arrow Tip: Find an Accountability Partner
Find a mate you trust, who will keep you honest, and agrees to be your accountability partner
Converse about your intentions and the actions you want to take to meet them
Set-up the specific actions you will take, and create general timeline for when you will accomplish them
Check in with each other once a week, in person, via text, email, phone etc.
Celebrate the progress! Fist bump each other each time you make a gain.
Do you have an accountability partner? Have they helped you make moves in life? Let me know!
Share the love
If you haven’t already, I would be so very grateful if you rated and left me a review of the podcast. It takes two minutes! Here’s what to do.
Click HERE
Click “view in itunes”
Click the “ratings and reviews” tab
Click “write a review” and show me love <3
Resources
Click HERE to become a part of Friday Feelz
Click HERE for a list of the 10 books I believe ever female athlete MUST read.
Click HERE to be the first to know when a new podcast or article drops, and receive other exclusive content