Having an accountability partner can increase your success and help you hit your goals so why would you leave it up to chance. Take the initiative and found an accountability partner today with these eight tips.
IE 56: 8 Tips for Finding an Accountability Partner
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Today, I am going to give you 8 tips for finding an accountability partner. If you have followed me for any length of time, you know that I think that having an accountability partner is one of the most important things you can do for your business. Let’s jump right into the tips…
#1- Make sure you have similar goals/interests with your accountability partner
Please notice that I didn’t say “niche”. You absolutely do not have to be in the same niche in order to be accountability partners. If you are a food blogger, you can pair up with a parenting blogger and the two of you can work together fabulously.
Why is the industry or niche not the crucial factor? Because in online business, someone may be light years ahead of us as far as their growth goes. Having similar goals allows you to work together and to encourage each other as you each achieve the goals that will drive your own business forward.
You want an accountability partner who is willing to talk about their goals and who is serious about growing their business. If they can’t tell you specific goals that they have, they most likely will not be able to hold you accountable for reaching your goals either.
#2 – An accountability partner that understand the focus of your goals.
Over the past several weeks, I have stressed the importance of setting goals, but in particular, I want you to understand the difference between performance goals and outcome goals. You should be able to share with your accountability partner why it is that you are focusing on your daily tasks and actions and what you hope to ultimately accomplish through those actions. And they should be able to support you in that.
If you haven’t set outcome goals or the performance goals that will get you there, how can your partner help you to accomplish them? Your partner needs to know the specific things that you are trying to achieve so that they can celebrate when you reach them or find ways to help you if you get stuck.
#3 – Your accountability partner must be positive, driven, and persistent.
The last thing you want as an accountability partner is somebody who always sees the glass as half-empty. For some people, there will always be a new crisis, or something is always wrong, they can never move forward, the algorithms are holding them back, Pinterest is against them, and on and on.
Understand that if you surround yourself with negative people, you will soon take on their negative attitudes. You need someone who will give you positive feedback and who will push you forward to meet your goals.
You also need them to be persistent so that when you are not seeing the momentum you hoped for, they can continue to lift you up no matter how much you push back. You have to really figure out a partner’s personality in order to know if that person is right for you. Take the time to find that one person that you mesh with perfectly.
#4 – Your accountability partner must be reliable but understand boundaries.
I just feel like I have to address this because I know that some of us have had that person who simply doesn’t understand personal boundaries. They message you all hours of the day and night and get frustrated when you don’t get back to them within seconds no matter what time it is.
You definitely need someone who is going to prioritize the relationship and who you know will get back to you. But you have to set boundaries in place before you get into a deep accountability partnership with someone. Maybe you need a 24-hour window to return messages, You have to tell them that. If you don’t set the boundaries ahead of time, you can’t get angry when they continue to cross them.
And as for your side of things, don’t drive your accountability partner crazy asking questions that you could find the answer for somewhere else. If you need tech help or you feel stuck, Google it! I’m serious here, you guys. I can’t tell you how many times I have been asked how to do things simply because the person refused to take the initiative to Google it and discover that there were multiple videos walking folks through the process step-by-step. Do not do that to your partner!
#5 – Schedule a regular time to chat with your accountability partner.
You’re committed to each other and you’ve set healthy personal boundaries. What’s the next step? Make yourself available on a regular basis.
If you and your accountability partner live on opposite coasts, or you have small children and she doesn’t, there are going to be challenges in making the time to talk. You have to figure those out up front and commit to meeting over Skype or having a Voxer chat on a regular basis.
Is your potential partner going to be offended if your child comes in while you’re on a call and asks for juice? What if your kid yells at you from the bathroom to come wipe their hiney? Is that going to be a problem with your partner? You need to know these things ahead of time.
#6 – Find an accountability that is strong willed enough to kick your butt when needed.
It’s bound to happen. You’re going to slack off on those daily tasks you need to get done in order to meet your outcome goals. Maybe your kid was sick or you were tired or you just didn’t feel like doing your work.
You need somebody who doesn’t always accept your excuses for why you haven’t accomplished what you said you were going to do. Now obviously, you will have times of sickness or things that keep you from meeting goals. We all have those things happen.
But instead of your accountability partner just giving you a pass, they need to understand why you are behind on your goals and give you a push to help you meet them as soon as possible. Instead of saying, “Oh, I understand. Why don’t you take the next few weeks to try to get back on your feet?”, they should say something like, “I’m sorry you’re having a rough time. Let’s figure out how you can get back on track by the end of the week.”
What you don’t want here is someone who is mean or belittling. If someone ever speaks to you in a way that is demeaning or belittling, you need to be done with them. There is never an excuse for speaking to someone in that way. If they can’t offer helpful constructive criticism that lifts you up and helps you see the possibilities, you need to find someone who can.
#7 – Consider a mastermind for added accountability
I get so many questions about masterminds and what purpose they serve and where they fit into an overall accountability plan.
I am part of 2 masterminds; one is a peer mastermind and the other is a paid mastermind. That’s right. Even Jenny Melrose pays to be part of a mastermind because even I need my bootie kicked every once in a while. True story!
Why a paid mastermind? Because it has been proven that you put more into anything you pay for. When you put out hundreds (or thousands) of dollars to be in a group of people who are going to hold you accountable to meet goals that you set, you are going to work much harder to actually meet those goals. Join the waitlist for my Spring mastermind.
#8 – Hiring a coach as an accountability partner
Again, this is one of those things where you pay money to get your butt kicked. And paying that money ensures that you will work harder to meet those goals than if you didn’t have someone you were paying money to so they could kick your butt.
Having someone who can look at your business and your goals from that outside view can be super beneficial for almost all businesses. I feel so strongly about it that in my own membership site, I offer coaching. Most membership sites don’t offer one-on-one with the group owner.
If you go to my site, you can see the membership options that I offer. One of those options gives you two 15-minute calls with me per month. Be sure to check those out here and let me know how I can help you achieve the goals you have set for this year!
Action Steps:
- If you liked this episode of Influencer Entrepreneurs, please subscribe and leave a fabulous review!
- Mark your calendar for the weekly free trainings every Tuesday at 11am EST over on Jenny’s Facebook page.
- Join the conversation on Instagram by using the hashtag #WWJMD and tagging Jenny!
- Plus join Jenny Live every Wednesday at 3:00pm EST and every Monday at 8:30pm EST on Instagram to get your questions answered live! Just request to enter the live stream and you’ll be able to join Jenny LIVE!
