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Accountability Challenge

Thinking about achieving your goals is easy. However, you will never achieve them unless you hold yourself accountable for your actions. This is the hard part. Sometimes life gets in the way of achieving your goals, or you don’t know what steps you need to take in order to achieve them. Other times, you just don’t have the motivation to get up and do what you need to do in order to move one step closer to your accomplishments. So how do you achieve your goals if holding yourself accountable is a challenge? What can you do to make the process easier for yourself? That’s where I come in! Here are three quick tips I use to help keep myself accountable when achieving my goals:

Routine, Accountability, and Time Management

Can you believe it’s already March?! This month’s overall theme revolves around routine, accountability, and time management. Let’s begin with what these terms actually mean. Routine is defined as a sequence of actions regularly followed. Accountability is responsibility. Time management is the ability to use one’s time effectively or productively. So now that we know how to define these terms, we can ask ourselves these questions: How does having a routine help you achieve a goal? Why is accountability so important? How does it help you achieve your goals? How do you personally create a routine for yourself and hold yourself accountable? There are so many variables that go into achieving your goals. But these terms and questions are a great starting point because they are all connected. When you have a routine, the process becomes a fixed part of your daily life. The things you do become second nature, which makes achieving your goals that much easier.

Negative Self-Talk

As we continue to explore the idea of loving yourself, this week’s focus is on how we talk to ourselves. Do you ever find yourself being negative towards yourself? Have you ever found yourself thinking, “I can never do anything right!” or, “I will never be able to reach my goals?” This is negative self-talk. Essentially, negative self-talk is an inner dialogue that is harmful on all fronts. Unlike self-reflection, it isn’t constructive, and individuals often do not feel motivated to make changes based on these mental statements. It is important to understand that the two are very different, and how to steer that negative self-talk into something more constructive and loving. The best way to demolish negative self-talk is to be aware of what it is, when it's happening, and how to put a positive spin on those thoughts. So we’ve defined negative self-talk and given examples of it. What do we do to be more aware of when it’s being practiced at the moment? And how do we prevent it from happening in the future? Well for one, now that it’s been defined, it will be easier to point out to yourself in the future. Next time you find yourself practicing negative self-talk, tell yourself that’s exactly what it is, and put those thoughts into perspective. Are you truly worthless, or do you just feel worthless at the moment? Why do you feel that way? What can you do to rid yourself of those feelings?