How to Find an Accountability Partner and Optimize Your Results

One of the most underrated aspects of achieving your health, fitness, and lifestyle goals is accountability.

Sure, it’s easy for everyone to pump you up with motivational speeches, quote Nike and tell you to “Just do it!”, but this is the real world, and you are a real person with real problems, real setbacks, and real struggles.

It’s not always easy to “Just do it” and sometimes, our environments defeat our willpower and cause us to fall behind on our habits and goals.

So what in the world are we supposed to do?

How can we get out of our own way, overcome procrastination, and stop relying on motivation to achieve success?

One simple word.

Accountability.

The greatest men and women of our time all understand the importance of having a group of people in your corner who will keep you on track, keep you honest, and hold your feet to the fire regardless of how you feel at any given moment.

With a powerful group of individuals by your side, there is nothing that you cannot accomplish.

But how do you actually go about finding and building relationships with these people? And once you’ve found them, how do you systematize the accountability process to ensure maximum results?

That’s exactly what I will be covering in today’s article.

Part I: Finding Your Tribe

The concept of accountability is rendered null if you don’t actually have someone to hold you accountable.

And while some of you were blessed to have highly motivated friends and family members who want you to succeed and are already pushing you to new heights, many of you reading this were not so lucky.

Your social circle is sub-par to say the least, and finding individuals that you respect enough to enter into an accountability relationship with just doesn’t seem possible.

Luckily, there are a couple of ways that you can streamline this process.

1. Go to Relevant Events or Retreats

One of the best ways to find your ideal accountability tribe is to go where those kinds of people go.

And whether your goal is to find a new gym partner, business mentor, or dating “coach” there are a plethora of events you can attend that range in length, price, and location.

One of my favorite events was the Knowledge for Men Awakening.

Other, similar events include

The Billion Dollar Body Live by Nichola Bayerle

Tony Robbins Unleash the Power Within

The Summit of Greatness by Lewis Howes

10X Conference by Grant Cardone

2. Join and Online Mastermind

While this tactic might not be as effective as attending a live event, finding relevant online masterminds is a great way to meet like minded people who can help you achieve your goals.

There are plenty of free Facebook groups and online forums that you can join and you will undoubtedly be able to find a few people with whom you resonate.

Personally, I would recommend that you opt for a paid group.

While free masterminds are fantastic, in my experience, the type of individual who is willing to pay a monthly or yearly fee to surround themselves with high-caliber people tends to be the type of individual who is playing the game of life on a whole different level.

So if you want to find the real A+ players, then I highly suggest you look for some of the more exclusive online masterminds and fork out the necessary cash to join.

3. Go to Local Meetups and Events

No matter what you are looking for, I promise that there is a local meetup that can connect you with the right people.

From real estate meetups to calisthenics bootcamps, a few Google searches is all that it takes to find local groups who are banding together to grow and achieve great things.

Just use Meetup.com and attend a wide variety of events until you find your tribe.

Part II: The Accountability System

Just because you have found your gym buddy, business guru, or friendly neighborhood Casanova doesn’t mean that the journey is over.

In fact, I would say it has just begun.

Here are the systems and principles that I use when it comes to maximum accountability and success.

1. The 33/33/33 Law

The law of 33 states that you should spend 33% of your time with people above you (mentors), 33% of your time with people on your level (friends) and 33% with those “below” you (mentees).

And while you might not immediately see the parallels, this is important for accountability.

If you are just surrounding yourself with people who are on your “Level” or below your level, then you are not going to achieve the same results that you would by having a mentor in your life to keep you accountable and steer your path.

Conversely, if you are exclusively spending time with people who are years ahead of you, it’s easy to get frustrated and forget how far you’ve come and how much you have to offer.

So when you are building you accountability tribe, try to shoot for the 1:1:1 ratio of people on, above, and below your current level of success in any given area.

2. The Stick and the Carrot

In my experience, pure accountability doesn’t work.

Just reporting to someone day in and day out does very little to help you achieve your goals.

However, when you introduce stakes into the game, things change.

Let’s say that you decide to wake up everyday at 6 a.m. and you tell your accountability partner.

Great!

Your motivation will last for a few days, then you will fall back into your old habits and your partner will do little more than slap you on the wrist.

Now imagine that you and your partner agreed to a challenge. You both put $500 in a pot and agree that whoever can consistently follow a positive new habit for the most consecutive days gets to take the pot home.

Now how motivated would you be?

If you want to really accelerate your results, introduce positive and negative stakes into your accountability system and you will skyrocket to success.

3. Consistency

The final key to successfuly creating an accountability system is to maintain an almost maniacal consistency.

You need to regularly contact your tribe and discuss your goals, because if you don’t, you will eventually lose.

Stay consistent and you will constantly reach for greater and greater heights.

Good luck.

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