Accountability

noun ac·​count·​abil·​i·​ty | ə-ˌkau̇n-tə-ˈbi-lə-tē : the quality or state of being accountable especially: an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s actions – Merriam Webster

People help influence our choices all day long. Our parents, our friends, advertisers…but at the end of that day, to whom are you accountable? Who do you answer to in the different departments of your life? If no one else’s opinion mattered, would you make different choices?

It’s easy to say, “Eh, I’ll go tomorrow.” or “No one will care if I have another x, y, or z.”. We are too quick to forget that, in fact, someone will care. I will care when I feel like rubbish, but self worth is a whole different gallon of ice cream to tackle bite by bite and I’m not quite there yet…..back to accountability. Sometimes, I just need a nudge. It’s not that I don’t know what the “right” answer is most of the time, but it’s advantageous to have someone who will hold me to account. Knowing the right answer and making the correct decision, sadly, remain entirely separate.

When it comes to health and wellness choices, obviously, most adults are left to our own devices. This is what we want as adults, right? Autonomy? Independence? No one is there making you eat your vegetables or sending you outside to play for a while? While it’s liberating to make all the rules and have ice cream for breakfast four days a week… I find that it’s often more effective to enlist help in the “better choice” department. Someone that will be proud of me when I DO make the right choice…or someone that I don’t want to disappoint…basically, I find a person who WILL care. Or, maybe more importantly, someone who’s opinion I care about.

If I’m struggling with motivation, I have been guilty of turning coworkers into unwittingly accomplices in achieving my weekly running goals. It’s cheaper than a coach and they have no choice. It goes something like this.

Me: “What are you doing over the dinner break?”

Coworker: says something irrelevant and then “what about you?”

Me: “I’m trying to motivate for a run.”

Here’s the point. This simple conversation almost guarantees that I will put on my running shoes and at least give it a go because now I have someone to answer to. I have created the chance that, later on, this coworker will ask me how I did on my run. I don’t want to have to say that I didn’t even try. It just doesn’t feel good to have to admit to that. They’ll think I’m lame…As silly as it seems, simply being accountable to the possibility of the conversation motivates me 99% of the time.

Even people that have the best habits and amazing motivation have challenging days. Having a wellness partner in crime, whether they know they’re one or not, can make all the difference.