By Poornima Vijayashanker
Tomorrow we’ll be ringing in the new year, and after popping open a bottle of bubbly, we’ll make resolutions for 2015. While I love bubbly, I’ll skip the resolutions; I haven’t made a resolution since 2010!
I’m not a big fan of resolutions, because I think they’re really binding, and I often break them before spring rolls in because my goals change. Instead, I think it’s important to see how far I’ve come in just one year. So between Christmas and New Years, I’ll list out what I’ve accomplished, and I’ll dig into what made those accomplishments possible.
Why it’s hard to accomplish things on your own
As I look back at 2014 and take stock of all the work I’ve done, such as giving a TEDx talk and self-publishing my first book, I noticed that in pursuing both those goals, I hit some very real mental roadblocks. For the first time, in a long time, I was nervous about speaking on stage. With my book, I was concerned about finishing it on time, and making sure making sure readers would find it useful and motivate them to bring their ideas to life!
During each project I has a serious case of self-doubt and felt really stuck…
I didn’t want to give up, but I wasn’t sure how I’d overcome those mental roadblocks, so I decided to get some help.
How accountability partners help
For my TEDx talk, I hired a speech coach, Jeffrey Davis, who improved my stage presence and helped me keep my delivery concise and clear. While my editor, Nathalie Arbel, and Nathan Barry helped me refine, promote, and self-publish my book. Thanks to these amazing partners, I not only pushed past my mental roadblocks, but their guidance got me to the next level!
They acted as mentors and accountability partners, and while they are professionals you don’t always need someone who is professional to hold you accountable and help you get to the next level.
Anyone can be your accountability partner
Last week, I had you, my reader, be my accountability partner!
Remember how I requested you to provide me with feedback for how I can improve my weekly newsletters. (You can still provide feedback here.)
You and others readers, sent in some pretty amazing and candid feedback. As a result, I learned:
- I need to have a better lead-in to my posts, keep them short, and get to the point faster!
- The posts are valuable but not groundbreaking, which means I need to find some new material!
- There are additional topics you’d like me to cover, such as dealing with anxiety, managing energy levels, staying motivated, holding other accountable, and topics specific to startups (building a prototype, recruiting, and fundraising).
A few of you also emailed me some detailed feedback on improvements I need to make. It was incredibly helpful, and I appreciate those who took the time to send it in.
You’re my audience and you hold me accountable.
If you have goals you want to accomplish in 2015, the consider getting an accountability partner. Here’s how to set one up:
- Tell them your goals, keep it to 1-2 goals, and tell them why you think you cannot accomplish them on your own. What are the mental roadblocks or resource constraints you have that are holding you back?
- Ask for feedback in particular areas. If people tell you the 1001 things you are doing wrong, it will only overwhelm you, and you cannot possibly work on that many areas. Have them focus on 1-2 areas.
- Make sure they give you tried and tested techniques, not just ones that have worked for them once. This also means you need to find one who is credible and you can trust.
- Have them catch you in the act! Sometimes when people give us feedback, we don’t get it. But if they catch us doing something wrong, then it makes it clear what we’re doing wrong. I had readers write and tell me, which posts were too long winded. Having concrete examples helps.
- Setup a regular time to checkin. Everyone gets busy, including our accountability partners. So setup a 15-20 minute check-in either once a week or bi-monthly. Use this time to review what is and isn’t working and why. If that’s not possible, then use a feedback form or email exchange like I did last week.
Now I want to know, who held you accountable in 2014, and what goals were you able to accomplish? Do you have additional techniques you’d like to add to the list above? Let me know in the comments below.
