Sometimes, the easiest way to keep a commitment to yourself is to make a commitment to someone else.

Much has been written about the importance of making goals both actionable and measurable, meaning there must be definable, concrete actions you can take to advance towards your goals, as well as specific ways to gauge and quantify your progress. Both of these factors are undisputedly critical, but nothing animates a goal and brings it to life the way that simply saying it out loud to another person does. 

So many goals go unmet not because they are unachievable or poorly conceived but because they are as lifeless as inanimate objects, devoid of any real pull or motivating attraction. No spreadsheet, metric, or chart⏤no amount of strategic planning⏤will ever make you passionate about a goal the way talking about it with another person will. If there’s something you have a deep desire to accomplish, consider partnering with another person and holding each other accountable in a sort of mutual mentorship.

The concept of an accountability partner has been around for quite a while. The idea is that this person holds you accountable by being your sounding board and a witness to the commitments you make to yourself (and vice versa). Moving a goal from your heart to your head to your mouth and declaring it out loud to another person is the first step in a powerful sequence. This iterative process of desire, imagination, declaration, action, reporting, and recalibration, repeated week in and week out with a fellow goal seeker, can be as transformative as lightning if you pick the right partner. It’s like having someone rooting you on while you run an obstacle course.

Here’s how it works using a creative partnership as an example:

  1. At your first meeting, tell each other your primary goal for the year. For example: Person 1: To become a working musician generating a third of this year’s income from music-related work. Person 2: To design, create, and sell 25 pieces of custom furniture this year.
  2. Next, meet every two weeks to walk and talk. Seeing each other in person reinforces the partnership while walking stimulates your mind and imagination. Take turns reviewing the goals you set on your previous walk and describing your progress towards those goals, including what did and didn’t work, and why. Then, take turns stating your goals for the upcoming two weeks and describing exactly what actions you will take to accomplish them.
  3. Repeat this process every two weeks and watch your dreams become words, your words become actions, and your actions become accomplishments.

Copyright 2023 Kesel Wilson (entirely, 100% human-created)

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