When deciding to reach your goals with an accountability partner's help (here you find why you need one), you need to know what kind of person you are and how you want this relationship to work, especially if this is a total stranger that you never met before. You are letting this person enter your life and showing them all the weaknesses and your true self. And what you want to get out of this collaboration is to work with a person who will make you feel comfortable and at the same time be able to encourage you to achieve all the goals you decided to commit to.
That's why we would like to emphasize a couple of the essential qualities of the right accountability partner that will help you bring your life to the next level. Let's dive in:
Respectful and Non-Judgemental
First, and one of the most important characteristics is that there is mutual respect. The right partner will make sure that they understand you and your current situation and respect the environment you are coming from, and know where you want to go. This should work both ways - you need to understand that the partner is trying to help you overcome the obstacles, even though this might be hard sometimes. But adding the right amount of respect to this will make the whole journey more pleasant.
Available and Reliable
They need to be available and reliable. If you have an agreement to have a daily accountability call, let's say at 6 pm, your accountability partner needs to be ready and available for you to take that call. Consistency like that will increase dedication towards your goal and, what is more, will help you a lot when trying to build new habits. Of course, it happens that sometimes, plans just get disrupted, but this kind of situation should not often occur when agreeing on daily accountability actions.
Trustworthy and Honest
You need to trust each other. You will be communicating a lot with this person, so you must trust them and share all your thoughts and struggles with them. Choose a person that will be brutally honest with you. Don't forget, this is a person that will hold you accountable, so it's good to find someone with the strengths and characteristics you lack, so they will complete you in this way and help you go in the right direction.
Sharing the Values
It's good that you share the same values, especially if you are going into an accountability partnership with a peer or a friend. With that, you will better understand each other and have a common goal you will both want to achieve. Sharing a vision or a purpose can give you an extra boost.
Encouraging
Of course, an accountability partner needs to encourage you and give you sufficient support to achieve the goals. They need to find the right way to keep you motivated, especially in the hard times when you feel doubtful if you can even finish what you started. They must find a way to challenge you and give you some good ideas on overcoming any possible setbacks in these moments.
Trust your gut but also follow some rules while choosing your Accountability Partnership. You will get the best results if you come along well with the other person, especially when working closely with your Accountability Partner.
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