Self-Accountability for Thriving Leaders who want to Stay on Track and Achieve Goals

As a professional services business leader, you face unique challenges and responsibilities in managing your team and driving business growth. As we approach the end of a quarter, it's a great time to review your progress and re-align your focus for the upcoming months. However, it can be challenging to stay motivated and accountable for your actions and decisions. That's why creating a self-accountability practice is essential for success.

Self-accountability is the ability to take ownership of your actions and decisions, no matter the circumstances. It's a crucial skill that can help you improve your productivity, build better relationships, and achieve your goals. In this article, I'll share a Self-Accountability Practice that can help you stay focused, aligned and motivated to achieve your goals, both personally and professionally.

Here's a Self-Accountability Practice I use throughout the year to incorporate fresh starts and realign myself to my goals. When I'm consistent with these practices, I have a better sense of whether I'm on track, or off track. I also know what I need to do to get back on track. I'm sure it will help you succeed too!

1. Annually: Towards the end of each fiscal year, I take time to review and reflect on my business, my career, and my life and then set my personal and professional goals. I set an annual retreat for this (usually a full day). Another key practice for this time, is to block off vacations and rest periods for the year and schedule my quarterly and monthly reviews. As they say, what gets scheduled, gets done.
2. Quarterly: I value my quarterly review even more than my annual review. Why? Because I love setting quarterly goals that are aligned to my annual goals. These feel so much more realistic, focused, and doable. This usually takes 2-3 hours. I conduct an after actions review of my quarter, review my work and life goals, and set three key quarterly goals.
3. Monthly: On a monthly basis, I set priorities in alignment with my quarterly goals and identify my key projects for the month. I create my plans and schedule time in my calendar to work on each of my goals and projects. If it’s a month that has 5 weeks in it, I block an extra day or two off – or even a full week – to play catch-up or take quality time off to refresh.
4. Weekly: THIS! This is my sanity check. No matter what, my Weekly Accountability Practice happens. It’s a 20–30-minute practice I do every Sunday to reflect on the week behind me and plan for my week ahead. Life happens. This weekly practice helps me get focused on what’s possible and motivated to tackle another week. It truly gives me that Fresh Start feeling after a chaotic work week. One of my coaching clients found that "Having a Sunday Summit is much better than having the Sunday Scaries!" 
5. Daily: I identify my top three priorities for the day. One of these may be a habit I’m aiming to instill, a task related to my goals or key projects, and occasionally, something I’ve been procrastinating. This practice helps me be realistic about what I can accomplish that day. On more open days, I schedule bigger tasks, like writing this article. On a heavily scheduled day, it might be a simple reminder of how I want to show up in a meeting. At the end of the day, I review my progress and prep for the next day.

Creating a self-accountability practice can help you take ownership of your actions and decisions, help you achieve your goals, and give you peace of mind. By incorporating just one or two of these examples in your self-accountability in practice, you can build a foundation of trust and responsibility with yourself. Remember, self-accountability isn't about being perfect; it's about being willing to learn and grow from your mistakes.

Your Leadership Challenge:

I certainly didn’t start these routines all at once. So, if you are new to this type of alignment practice, pick one routine to begin. Unsure where to start, I recommend starting with a daily or weekly practice first.

Go ahead and pre-schedule time for your new practice in your calendar right now. Allow that fresh start to inspire and motivate you! 

Need Support or Accountability With Your Alignment Practice?  

Schedule a complimentary discovery call and we'll discuss the support you need to set up your practice, become more productive, and gain back time.