the Weekly Wrap - Accountability

When I was a kid, I knew that I wanted to own my own business when I grew up.???

Some kids dream of being a doctor, or a firefighter, or an engineer - Little Liz wanted to be in business for herself.?

Doing what exactly? Those were just details to be worked out - but I just knew I wanted to start my own thing. ???? ???

My family always showed me that being an entrepreneur was possible.? I watched my grandparents and parents take on different business ventures successfully.?

But my business venture sat there - as a dream. A "someday" vision that seemed to be just a little further off every year.?

About 7 years ago - I took the dream off the shelf, and started tinkering with it. Really conceptualizing and contemplating what it could be.?????

But nothing really happened. At all.?

Four years ago, I got serious again, diving in a bit deeper.? Creating some visions.? Visualizing the company.? Setting some goals.???

Again, the energy died out.????

And again, nothing really happened.?

In life we can have results or reasons. If you are not getting the results you want, your reasons are the lies that you keep telling yourself. – Harald Anderson?

Fast forward to today, I’ve finally launched the business and am putting 100% of my efforts into its successful launch.???????

What changed?? What was holding me back before????

I'm a pretty successful professional who has achieved everything I've set my mind to in my career so far.? Why was I unable to get this ball moving forward??

What did I need to change????

About four months ago, all of that became clear.?

As I've talked about before , my team was impacted by the shift in the financial markets and mortgage industry.? And I found myself looking for my next big thing.???

I put all the options on the table – which means I dusted off the business idea... again.?

But this time felt different.??

First, I found my "why."? I knew not only that I HAD to make this dream a reality - I had clarity on why it needed to happen.???

That's a whole different topic, for another day.?

The second difference was my approach.? I started making decisions to empower my success.???

The biggest decision - I went public.? BIG.?

?In the past, I had kept this dream to myself – or to a few close friends and family members.? More of a "someday" wish than any sort of vision or plan.?

This time was different.? I pitched the idea to a few trusted business colleagues right away.? I got some good feedback.?

So... I decided to take a big step.???

• To launch this new company into the world and to start up my social media - without knowing exactly what this would be.?
• Without having a list of clients that I'd already helped through this new company.?
• Without having a 3-year plan (heck - without a 3-month plan).?

Because I knew I needed one thing.?

Accountability.???

Ninety-nine percent of all failures come from people who have a habit of making excuses.?

— George Washington Carver???

And my plan worked.???

Putting my dream out there helped give me the missing puzzle piece to finally change the momentum.?

I started showing up differently for myself. And The Short Solution got some legs!?

And that's not just a coincidence!???

According to a study by the Association for Training and Development, accountability plays a huge role in achievement.? They found:?

?? making a conscious decision that you want to achieve something increases your chances of success by 10-25%.??

?? having a clear plan of how you’re going to achieve it increases your chances further, to 50%.?

?? if you commit to someone else that you’ll do it, there’s a 65% chance of success.??

?? if you make a specific appointment with another person, to report back on your progress, this increases to a 95% success rate!?

Specific accountability is the secret sauce to achieving your goals.??????? ?? ??

What does this look like? How can you use this knowledge to help YOU get unstuck and achieve your biggest goal? Here are the three most important things I’ve found to help me use accountability as my super power!?

Have a plan ????

You're going to get where you're going.???

Whether or not you consciously have a plan, your momentum is taking you down a path in life.??

Deciding to take control of the journey and chart your own course.?

Accountability without a good plan won't get you where you want to go.? So, make sure you really understand not just what your goal is, but what the first step or two you need to take are.?

Not sure where to start?? Sit down with a blank sheet of paper and brainstorm for 15 minutes.?

You know what you need to do.???

Get it down on paper.?

Work on your mindset???????♀?

Success is 80% mindset, 20% strategy.???

I talk about mindset a lot.? But it's the foundation of everything else that you will build on.?

If you don't have your "head in the game," you've already lost.???

You will fulfill the destiny that you create for yourself, and if the voice in your head is telling you that you can't do it, or you're not good enough, or any other of a number of limiting beliefs - you will believe it.?

This is especially important if you're trying something that you've failed at before.???

For example, four months ago I could have told myself, "I can't start this business, I've tried before and it hasn't worked out.? Obviously, I'm not cut out to do this."?

And I would have taken a much safer path than I'm on right now.? And already given up on fulfilling my dream.?

Instead, I chose to change the story I was telling myself.??

Your past and your history do not define you.? You must believe that you can change your momentum.?

Phone a friend!???

?Accountability with another human on a regular basis is the ultimate secret sauce – so find a buddy – an... Accountabili-buddy?!?

?Increase your odds of success to 95% (WHOA) by committing your goals to someone else and checking in regularly on your progress.?

Whoever it is - finding accountability in community will change the game in achieving your goals.?

I believe that accountability is the basis of all meaningful human achievement. – Sam Silverstein?

So, if you have something that you want to get done, but you feel stuck - or feel like you can't move the needle - introduce accountability and see how things change.??

And if you're interested, check out my newest brainchild - the Accountability Club. It’s a live group where we support each other over the next 90 days in achieving our biggest goal.

And now, let's get ready to start the weekend off right, with our Friday Night Dance Party!???

Make it a great weekend, y’all!?

-Liz?