Accountability is a funny thing – when we’re on our own, we’re more likely to justify straying from our nutrition plan “just this once” or to make excuses for why we have to skip the gym today. Then, we make a promise to be better tomorrow—or better yet, to start fresh again on Monday. When we don’t show up for ourselves, we’re subconsciously cataloging it as another failure (which more than likely adds up to a crappy mindset around fitness/nutrition over time).
However, when someone else is counting on us, we are way more likely to deliver as we don’t want to disappoint or fail them. Needing to lean on others to hold us accountable is OK— we could all use encouragement and support while we develop good habits. We like to think the Myriad community is pretty great with this – if we haven’t seen you in a while, your coaches, teachers, and fellow members will let you know you aren’t forgotten.
While a support system is great, ultimately, accountability comes down to YOU. It’s up to you to consciously choose every day to make progress toward your goals. We will always cheer you on and help you, but if you haven’t bought in to the process, it won’t work in the long term.
So, how do we stop letting ourselves down? How do we show up when it’s hardest?
Here are 10 ideas for holding yourself accountable to your goals:
1. Engage in the community! If you don’t engage, you are missing out on a big piece of the magic that is Myriad. Your peers will root for you and invest in your goals, and you will do the same for them.
2. Schedule your workouts like appointments you can’t miss. I like to do this on Sundays as a part of my weekly routine – every Sunday I meal prep, do laundry, and put my workouts and yoga classes on the calendar for the week. Once it’s on the calendar, I treat it like a meeting I can’t move.
3. Tell a coach or fellow member when you’re planning to come to class. By putting your intentions out there, you have created an expectation that you will want to follow through on.
4. Print off a calendar, hang it in a visible spot, and cross off the days you went to the gym (or ate healthy, or made progress toward whatever goal you’re focused on) so that you can visually see all the marks of your success. It’s satisfying to see your efforts adding up and will reinforce your intentions to keep going!
5. Share your story on social media (the Myriad Members Only Page is a great judgment-free place to start). It may be scary, but there’s something to be said for putting it all out there. Similar to #3, making a claim publicly will make you more likely to keep your word.
6. Take progress pics. To see our progress, we have to remember where we started. We get used to how we currently look because change is subtle and gradual, but by looking back to our starting point and comparing it to where we are now, we can take stock of the progress we have made since day one. Nobody else has to see these – they can be for your eyes only.
7. Set quarterly goal-setting meetings with an accountability buddy. This can be a fellow Myriad member, a coach, or even through our Athlete Check Ins with Coach Anna! This buddy can also be someone outside of the gym – someone who knows you well enough to call you out on your BS if you start to justify your misses ☺
8. Constantly remind yourself of your “why.” A goal is great, but if we don’t know why we want to reach it, it doesn’t mean much. Ask yourself why you want to focus on your goal. How will it impact your life? How will you feel once you’ve achieved it? What could your next goal be from there?
9. “Rome wasn’t built in a day”— we are on a journey, not a quick trip to the supermarket. There will be ups and downs. There will be plateaus. There will be stress and self-doubt. Don’t let those things knock you off your path – acknowledge them, thank them for teaching you something about yourself, and then continue to make forward progress.
10. Everyone likes a prize, right? Set micro-goals along the path to your BIG goals and reward yourself for hitting those milestones along the way. An example is if someone wants to lose 30 pounds, they can give themselves a little gift for every five-pound loss. These rewards don’t have to cost money, either—get creative with things you enjoy and treat yourself!
Inspiration provided by Sarah Neal at CrossFit816.com.