One Way to Give On Track

Ever wished you had someone to help you reach your goals? Keep you on track and keep you motivated?

In Tuesday’s post, I offered three ideas for staying motivated and now I’d like to offer a suggestion for another way to do just that.

You might have already heard of accountability partners. Teaming up with someone else who also wants to reach a goal or milestone. You both help one another by cheering each other on, keeping track of one another’s progress, and yes, holding them accountable for what they said they’d do.

Working for yourself, especially in the early days of entrepreneurship, is tough for one reason. You’re the boss now which means you have no one telling you what to do, when to do, and the consequences of not doing it.

Freedom from working for someone else sounds like a dream, and yes, it is but it can also turn into a nightmare. Getting the motivation to set goals, make phone calls, send out e-mails, meet deadlines is tough when you don’t have someone keeping you on track which essentially an employer does. It could mean your dream of working for yourself quickly ends or worse still suddenly no money is rolling in. An accountability partner can help keep that from happening.

It could be that you’ll check in on a weekly basis or monthly basis. It could be via phone, e-mail or even a virtual meeting. For it to work both of you have to be committed to your goals, both of you have to promise to be tough on one another when goals aren’t met. Both of you agree to be there when things don’t work out. Both of you have to agree to offer solutions and not just be critical about why the other person failed.

Think about someone you might like to team up with this year. Even give it a trial run to see how things work out. I know each time I’ve partnered with another entrepreneur, I’ve achieved a lot more.

And don’t worry if you can’t find a fellow entrepreneur because I have another idea which I’ll share with you in Tuesday’s post. It’s something I’ve been doing for the last six months and it’s a great alternative.