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In the previous post, we unpacked what it means to remain accountable to your goals. Beyond that, it equally important that we learn to become accountable to ourselves and those around us. By definition, accountability is the ability to reliably deliver on commitments and showing others that you can be trusted to do what you said that you will do.

Accountable to yourself

Self-accountability on the other hand means that you are responsible for your choices and actions. You are the first and last line of defense for your integrity. Self-discipline is your primary method for improving your life, pursuing good things because you desire them. You have set your course and are committed to success.

 The following are ways to remain accountable to yourself:

• Write everything down

This might seem like a simple task but it can be extremely instrumental in helping to remain accountable to yourself. Write all your goals and tasks – short term and long term. A trick that can help is writing your to-do-list on a sticky note and placing it all over your laptop, room wherever is most visible and then throwing them away as you complete your to-do items. It will be extra tough resisting the will to complete a task if they stare at you in the face.

• Identify your personal mission statement

Similarly to how businesses have mission statements, you also need to have your own mission statement. This comprises of your purpose. It simply needs to define you as a person and define what you are working towards every day. A simple example of a mission statement could be, “Live life to the fullest, stay focused and leave a legacy for women in sport”. Recite it every morning until you fully identify with it, once it ignites passion and fire in you then you know that you’ve found your mission in life. The constant reminder is also another way to enforce the commitment to living your life in a manner that upholds your personal mission statement.

• Create micro-goals

Identify smaller goals that you can begin with, and commit to achieving each one at a time. This keeps you more accountable in terms of the overall success of the goal. Experts argue that taking action every day that brings you one step closer to achieving your goal is one of the best methods out there. This incremental approach is favourable because it is more sustainable in terms of morale unlike setting only macro goals that might not always be achievable in a realistic timeframe.

• Learn to reward your accomplishments and milestones

This step might come as a surprise to most of you but contrary to popular relief, attaching rewards to goals can be one of the most exciting components of accountability. Knowing that you once you accomplish a certain goal, there is a reward on the other end that has high chances of making the task of completing that goal more enticing.

• Evaluate your performance

Being accountable to yourself means being brutally honest with yourself. This requires constant reviewing of how well you were able to apply your accountability skills because, at the end of the day, it is you that is responsible for your goals. If you want to remain accountable, keep yourself in check so that you can find other strategies and alternative paths if your performance is not up to par.

Accountable to others

Accountability also means that you might be called on to explain yourself to others. No one can live entirely disconnected from other people. You have various relationships with others like parents, friends, neighbors, teachers, bursaries and scholarships, co-workers and teammates. So, in addition to self-accountability, being accountable also means you are willing and able to give an honest account of your conduct to those who ask you.

Let’s be honest, being objective about your conduct can be hard, therefore being accountable to others can help you become aware of your blind spots and challenge you to get out of your old routine.

Additionally, being accountable to others does not mean you demean yourself or think you are a failure. Accountability is a positive thing when you desire to improve your life. These are the benefits of being accountable to others:

1. It increases your commitment to completing the goal.
2. You are able to share the success of your celebration.
3. Promotes clarity in stating your goals and action plan.
4. Reporting of success and setbacks along the way can help you focus on solutions to keep you moving.
5. Provide valid explanations for the choices and actions you have made and ask for their perspective and advice when you are not sure what to do next.

Self-accountability can help you push forward toward significant and lasting improvement in your life. And being honest with accountability to others can increase your motivation and likelihood to succeed. Hold yourself accountable for your choices and actions, and be accountable to others so that you can live your life well!

Over the next few weeks, we will be doing a series on accountability, especially as it relates to achieving goals, reaching milestones, and meeting responsibilities. In this post, we take a fresh look at how setting goals and having accountability measures work together using Locke and Latham’s 5 principles strategy.

In our post about SMART Goals, we discussed how expressing specific, measurable, attainable, and time-bound goals is one method that supports being active, engaged, and deadline-driven about your plans.

Dr Edwin Locke and Dr Larry Latham, specialists in psychology and organizational behavior, identified 5 key principles that underpin the successful achievement of goals: clarity, challenge, commitment, feedback, and task complexity. Over the course of their research, they have observed that consistent motivation and public accountability are 2 important factors for sustaining people to achieve their plans. Locke and Latham’s approach applies a strategic planning concept to goal setting.

CLARITY

This is closely linked to specific in the SMART method. Your goal should be something that you can clearly identify, define, plan for, and then measure your progress as you work to complete your plan. Goals that are vague or lack clear deliverables are difficult to achieve. This is not to be confused with having a dream or idea, which can initially be aspirational and not very specific. When you set a goal, you are taking the steps to formulate and actualize your dreams and aspirations into something that is attainable. Attainable does not mean that a goal is easy, it means that you have mapped a path, or an obstacle course, to move from the dream phase to the planning, action, and completion stages.

CHALLENGE

Locke and Latham recommend that while goals should be attainable, achieving them should provide one with a challenge. They should ideally have a level of complexity that pushes you to bring you’re a-game. If the goal is too simple, it may not motivate you sufficiently and you could lose interest along the way. You may not feel a great sense of achievement if your goal is too simple and too easy to achieve. The idea is that when you succeed at something that you have to work hard for and overcome challenges, you perceive your success as a greater reward than if you didn’t push yourself beyond your comfort zone. However, as one of our featured entrepreneurs shared, having incremental goals – goals that go from simple to more challenging – can initially help you to build confidence in your ability to achieve what you set out to do and motivate you to aim for the more ambitious dreams. Starting with an incremental approach helps you to build discipline especially if you are new at goal setting.

COMMITMENT

Accountability is a very strong determinant of successful goal achievement. When you believe in something and outcome is significant to you, you are more likely to feel committed towards achieving what you set out to. For example, if you want to pursue a career in the coding-related field, you need to have a strong foundation in mathematics and science. If you love coding because you are passionate about let’s say finding digital solutions to tracking information in a certain sector, for example, data systems for epidemiology, and you see yourself being in that specific area of work the idea is you will feel a greater sense of commitment to each level in your goal setting plan. This would be from having a study plan for your mathematics and science subjects to identifying fields of tertiary study, building networks with people in your professional field, and working on programs that build your skills. The personal significance of the goal, to work in data management in the field of epidemiology, will inform your commitment to each level you need to complete to be able to access the field starting with your school study plan.

FEEDBACK

Along the way, you need to check in on your progress and the status of your goal. If you have an accountability partner or mentor who is helping you, then the feedback can be done with them. You can do the feedback as a self-reflective exercise where you are checking on milestones reached, whether you are sticking to your proposed timelines and whether you had to or still have to adjust your plans to account for any changes in circumstances or new information. It is best to have regular feedback sessions so that you know where you are in the journey. You need to assess whether the steps in your plan are working or whether they need review and that your time investment is sufficient. The feedback principle is effective because it increases the level of accountability.

TASK COMPLEXITY

Locke and Latham maintain that setting ambitious and complex goals actually makes you more likely to pursue them and work sustainably to achieve them. In order to remain committed to the more complex, time-consuming, and long-term goals it helps to set sub-goals. To do this, you break down the timeline and milestones into less complex steps that lead to the completion of the big goal. Here you can utilize the incremental approach so that each step is leading into another and building towards more complex progression.

Locke and Latham’s view is that the more challenging and high-level your goals are, the more committed, motivated, and accountable you will feel. Accountability is widely recognized as one of the most important factors for motivating individuals, teams, and workgroups (governments and corporations even) to achieve their stated goals. Accountability affects levels of commitment and motivation. As you set and review your goals, make sure to factor in accountability steps so that you increase the likelihood of fully achieving them.

IN BUSINESS

Norma Young is a journalist graduate and entrepreneur. She is freelance writer and editor and has her own online business. During the lockdown in South Africa, Norma edited and self-published Homemade an anthology of essays and recipes, and published We Need More Tables, a book she had been working on for years.

As a freelancer, Norma was already accustomed to using her home as her office and having a self-directed but deadline-driven schedule. However, she was impacted by a drop in her editing and writing commissions so she started thinking about how to generate new revenue streams, using her existing skills, within the limitations of the lockdown. She had the idea of approaching people in her network to contribute towards an anthology of essays. The inspiration for the theme of Homemade was born out of all the home cooking Norma had been doing – both to save money and limit contact with the outside world. She had been enjoying all these homemade meals and thought others might have stories to share celebrating the meals and memories made in their kitchens. She reached out to her friends, acquaintances and professional contacts, inviting them to submit their personal stories.

She notes that her motivation levels sometimes dropped but she pushed through. It helped to set an overall project deadline and daily goals. Regularly ticking items off her to-do-list gave her a sense of accomplishment and motivated her to carry on. Additionally, she was excited to see the final book so that inspired her to work consistently and complete it within the planned period.

Norma’s advice to budding entrepreneurs: “Start with a dream that’s within reach. With each dream you can then keep pushing yourself further. Start small and through those small achievements keep building towards the bigger dreams.”

Keith Mafu is a young entrepreneur who launched Vulalula, a small business that developed a hands-free door opening mechanism, a much-needed solution to the need for limited skin-contact with shared surfaces. He used the time of unexpected solitude to analyze and re-examine his priorities and his future and wondered if his job was at risk. For him, the lockdown solidified the importance of entrepreneurship and being your own boss. One of Keith’s goals for the company is to create as many jobs as possible during this difficult time to stimulate the economy, in whatever small way he can.

A social entrepreneurship focus is very important to Keith and a big motivating factor. He is putting into practice the old saying “be the change you want to see”. One vital lesson Keith has learned as an entrepreneur is that you must become comfortable with being uncomfortable. Treat every experience, whether it’s a success or failure, as an opportunity to learn something new and grow.

Keith’s advice to aspirant entrepreneurs: “As a young entrepreneur, never give up, even when you believe you’ve hit rock bottom. Continue to persevere because opportunity can arise during the most difficult moments of your journey.”

IN ART

Theatre actress and vocalist Alexis Petersen added short-film producer to her CV when she co-produced and acted in “Please, Mr. President, Please”. It is a commentary on the enhanced violence and social injustice South Africans have experienced during the COVID-19 lockdown. The 5-minute 49-second film was created and produced by Alexis and her partner who are both performing artists. They launched the film in April 2020 on their social media platforms. When they saw news reports and heard in their own communities some of the things people were suffering during the lockdown, they felt moved to say something. Using their talents and skills for artistic expression, they conceptualized and executed the film which will hopefully be the first of many more digital projects they deliver.

From South Africa to Italy, many people have wanted to do something altruistic to contribute to managing the spread of COVID-19. At the start of the global lockdowns, Italian actor Michele Morrone was just becoming widely known outside of Italy. He used his Instagram to give traction to #stayhome. Doing regular Instagram live chats with fans he encouraged people to stay home, take care of themselves, and be considerate of others by adhering to the lockdown rules. He told positive stories about his struggles and journey as an actor in the decade he’s worked to establish himself. He shared how 12 months earlier he didn’t even know where his rent money would come from and couldn’t imagine that a year later he’d have multiple acting and music projects going. He emphasized how putting in the hard work consistently, especially when investing in your craft, will eventually pay off. Instagram became a tool not only for self-promotion but also to spread a positive message.

These 4 people, in their various capacities, used their wits and the resources they had available to be impactful in the world and enhance their own careers. Hopefully, there are things you resonate with in their stories to inspire you to think about your goals and plan how to work on them.

For all the uncertainty that the lockdown has conjured, one of the most valuable lessons to come out of this has to be our relationship with money and how we plan for life’s uncertainties. Now more than ever, the COVID19 pandemic has taught us that we need a new approach to financial planning, or for some us, we need a strict reminder to remain committed to our plans. Use the lessons below to assist with financial planning:

Always have an emergency fund

It’s important not to underestimate the importance of an easily accessible savings account to outmaneuver the uncertainties of life. Whether it’s a short term convenience for paying rent when you lose income, buying data for studying online, or assisting family members when life happens.

Many experts advise having 3-6 months’ worth of living expenses set aside. That kind of saving requires discipline but trust me, you will thank yourself for putting away cash regularly for a rainy day.

Spend money wisely

Before the lockdown, you could have probably easily saved a R1000 a month from eating out less and Ubering. Thanks to locking down of economic activities and reduction of disposable income – preventing us from sitting out at restaurants and going out, this has made us realise how easy it is to save money if we can apply a bit of discipline to things we can do without or less of.

Of course, everyone deserves leisure from time to time, but going overboard may be unhealthy. You must remember that cash in hand does not mean cash to spend. Use this time to reflect and evaluate if some spending can’t be re-directed to a savings account.

Gain clarity about your work contract

Retrenchment and pay-cuts have become a reality for many South Africans. If you are a young professional, sometimes asking questions can become intimidating. But it’s important to always ask the right questions regarding employee rights and benefits in case of retrenchments.

Sometimes we often let the excitement of securing employment overlook the fine print, but if this pandemic has taught us anything, it is important to understand employee benefits and rights should any career storm hit you.

Get a passive income/ side hustle

It is no secret that many businesses were put out of operations during Covid19, leaving millions of people uncertain when they would receive their next salary. On the brighter side of things, this has shone a light on the value of having a passive income or starting a side hustle.

If you have a skill that can be monetized, do it! Do you have a creative flair? Make and sell earrings. Become a paid freelance writer. Invest money and earn interest. Stop making excuses and start that business now. Let go of your fears and put yourself out there.

You’re never too young to budget

Our current economic climate has encouraged a lot of people to start budgeting. But you should not only be budgeting in times of crisis. Make it a part of your life. Remember you’re not too young to start forming these healthy habits.

In fact, it is probably the best time to familiarise yourself with budgeting at an earlier stage so that it becomes second nature when you’re older. Keep track of your income and expenditure and pay of debts. Stay committed to sticking to the budget. Your future self will thank you.

It is always empowering to have control over your finances as opposed to your finances having control over you. Getting real and frank regarding your finances can be quite a daunting experience, but if you are transparent with your money, it makes it easier to avoid financial knocks.

It is mindboggling that the mind is as delicate as it is powerful. That’s part of the reason it is important to have a balanced set of experiences between solitude and social interactions. An interesting factor for many people is that being alone with one’s thoughts, and allowing one space and time to let the mind drift without any interruptions can be quite intimidating. Especially when it hasn’t yet become an ingrained habit. What’s more important though is that the experience of spending time alone doesn’t have to be negative.

And for the sake of your overall well-being, it’s essential to set aside the time to have conversations with yourself. With time and progress, that time can easily become sessions where you get to think through your thoughts, make sense of emotions, and seek to understand why they exist. Spending time alone can also add value to your relationships; boost your creativity and overall confidence. It also helps with learning to deal with emotions much more effectively, which then leads to a stronger handle on things when difficult situations (eventually) arise.

There are a few other ways through which you can reap the benefits of enjoying your own company:

Developing a stronger sense of self

Solitude can provide a chance to learn more about yourself and when it comes to your creative expressions, it can help you rediscover your own voice. The time spent alone can also help with accessing long-forgotten memories, gaining a clearer perspective and finding solutions for the daily challenges you face.

Cultivating a healthy relationship with solitude and making the independent choice to be alone helps with your development, strengthening your sense of self, and determining what your true interests are.

Visiting and analyzing childhood memories

Meditation allows you to constantly renew the mind, and hobbies play a big role here. This way, you get to break free from the world around you and achieve tranquility and be totally present in the moment through a combination of the pastimes you choose to engage in.

Solitude also helps with finding new interests and ideas without having to worry about the opinions of others.

Be inspired to offer more to your relationships

Comfortably spending time alone can also encourage you to form new habits that add value to your relations with other people.

By spending more time with yourself and getting a better understanding of who you are and what you want out of life, you’re likely to make better choices about the type of people you want to hang out with. Also, you may place more value to your relationships after spending time alone.

Relearning details you’ve forgotten

What might also add more depth to your memory is the act of journaling your thoughts, ideas and emotions.

In times of isolation, writing down what goes through your mind can provide a safe space to vent, talk honestly to yourself, and achieve clarity about what you need to do in different situations. And if you happen to have a hard time listening to your thoughts, writing them down can be a good way to sort through and evaluate those thoughts and emotions.

And still on writing things down, another way to improve your self-understanding is making time to read through the notes you might’ve written before. It’s a great way to revisit your thoughts with an objective mind and attitude.

For the fact that we’re human beings, our ability to face ourselves without being intimidated or unsettled is the first step in seeking and maintaining contentment. Spending time alone can ultimately help you gain a stronger control of your emotions and improve your mental and emotional health.

To close it off, an excerpt from Paulo Coelho’s Like The Flowing River perfectly captures the significance of solitude:  “A return to paradise is guaranteed to anyone who recognizes his or her reflection in the water and feels no fear”.