Accountability is one of the many benefits to hiring a coach.
You’ll be on the line with someone who knows what goals you’ve committed to! Many clients bring this up early on…
“I want somebody to be a hardass. Really, hold my feet to the fire!”
I can absolutely do that for you. But is that really how you want to live your life?
This type of accountability is often what will spur us into action initially, but as time goes on you may realize that you don’t want to get backed into a corner every time you need to get something done. It ends up being a lot easier and more enjoyable to create systems in your life for getting things done. You can make those difficult, scary, or annoying tasks part of just what you do.
Let’s take a careful look at what those tasks are, the ones that are constantly on the to do list perpetually causing you stress. Why aren’t they happening? What are ways that we can break those tasks down into simple steps? How can we integrate those simple steps into your daily and weekly life?
You can form new habits, set up new patterns, and do things incrementally so that they continue to get done even without anyone’s feet being held near any fires.
To take this one step further: Sometimes it’s okay that you didn’t get it done.
I know! Blasphemy! But it’s true. Things come up and life doesn’t always (or ever) go exactly according to the plan. What if you had someone there with you to say, “It’s okay that you didn’t get that done this week. You have legitimate reasons for letting it slide and we’ll pick it right back up this week. No big deal.”
As your coach, I’ll often simply ask what it is that you need in terms of accountability. Your needs will very from week to week and from project to project.
There will be times when you actually will need to say, “Don’t take this call with me next week if I haven’t accomplished this task.” There will be other times when you don’t need one more person in your life being a hard ass. Sometimes coaching is about really hearing my clients, and making sure that they know how valuable they are and that they are not alone.
As your coach, I’ll always be sensitive to your needs and how they vary from week to week. Imagine waking up one day (in the not so distant future) and realizing that it’s all getting done, and it’s really not that bad!
Originally published on Linked-In