Are Accountability Partners Worth It?

If you are considering finding an accountability partner you may be feeling a little dubious about it. Are they really worth it or do these sessions turn into friendly chats where nothing is ever achieved?

This is going to depend on your purpose for getting an accountability partner in the first place. It will also depend on just how serious you are with your weekly or monthly goals. Any meeting can turn into a friendly chit-chat if you allow it.

My advice to you is before connecting with an accountability partner determine what your goals and desires are for wanting one. Do you really want to be held accountable for your actions? Or maybe you are lacking socially and are looking for more of an excuse to chat with someone? If so, then maybe being more active in social media or running your own Facebook group could be a better alternative for you.

Once you have set your goals for wanting an accountability partner your next step is finding one. Many online forums and communities have special sections for connecting with potential accountability partners. Take a look at those forums which you visit frequently and see if they have one.

If you are active on social media you could post that you are looking for one there. Do you know anyone else that uses an accountability partner?  Why not ask them where they found theirs?

This is definitely not something that you want to rush into. It is important to find the right person so that you will both benefit from your meetings. Write out a list of qualities or traits that you are looking for. You may want a person who is of the same gender and age as you. What about time zones? Is connecting with someone on a totally different continent going to work?

Use Skype or Facebook chat to connect with possible partners and get to know them. You don't want to make a rash decision and you do want to get along with the person as well.

Remember though, that you are being accountable to each other. This means that you both need to be able to take criticism and feedback from each other. Quite often it is much easier to be the one offering feedback than to be on the receiving end.

Plus you are going to have to be honest with your accountability partner when you don't meet your goals and deadlines – if that happens! While there is no need to be fearful of missing a goal, you do need to know why you missed it. A family emergency may have come up or maybe you don't know why you missed your goal. Actually this can be a good thing and a benefit to having an accountability partner.

If you are in the habit of missing deadlines it is possible that a person looking in from the outside can see things that you are missing. This could just be that your workload is so heavy that you don't have the time to get anything new. Or they may see that you spend way too much time on Facebook or visiting forums each day.

Once any problem areas have been identified it is up to you to take action and remedy them. This is all part of working together as accountability partners. No one is the judge, in fact, you are both just trying to help each other set and meet goals on a regular basis.

Many business people have connected with accountability partners and have a business relationship that has lasted decades. There is no reason why this couldn’t turn into a similar experience for you and your new accountability partner.