Accountability: Whether you love that word or hate it, it is invariably one of the active ingredients for personal and professional success.

The importance of accountability is proven in corporate situations where the C.E.O.s are held accountable by a Board of Directors. They have to report to that board on a quarterly or annual basis, and if benchmarks previously set are not achieved – those C.E.O.s must answer for themselves and their actions.

Accountability in Business and in Life

The same holds true for business owners running a small company full of employees, or solopreneurs running a one-person business. There are always key activities that MUST be completed, and tasks that are of necessary (or vital) importance to the success of the company. Knowing that these important responsibilities must be addressed and resolved on a regular basis, the misconception is that we don’t need anyone to hold us accountable for these actions.

If you’ve been a student of human behavior (including your own) for even a brief period of time, you’ve seen that we’re great at offering up excuses, reasons and explanations as to why we didn’t get an important task – or set of tasks – completed or in a timely fashion.

For an entrepreneur or business professional, this often includes incredibly important activities such as:

• Completing a business plan
• Defining sales goals
• Reaching out to key contacts
• Identifying problem areas
• Following through on marketing/advertising activities
• Completing a particular project

Accountability is Common and Leads to Results

It is evident everywhere that the vast majority of the human population needs structured assistance with hitting the goals that are most important. This is often the case in weight loss, where men and women pay the services of companies such as Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers to help them stay accountable to their desired goal.

Most people have the same experience with fitness goals. Statistics show the vast majority of individuals who sign new memberships for workout facilities, such as 24 Hour Fitness or Bally Total Fitness, rarely follow through with their fitness regimen that they themselves setup. But when the aid, assistance and accountability of a fitness trainer is acquired, the results DRAMATICALLY increase.

The same is true for very serious situations such as drug or alcohol addictions. Those that have dealt with this disease have sought assistance and received structured accountability and help through associations such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous.

The very reason these organizations thrive is because of the nature of their solution –to provide a structured accountability approach as a positive reinforcement to counteract our “I’ll get around to it” nature.

What Can Accountability Do for You?

So where would your business or life be if you were hitting all your benchmarks and progressively achieving the goals you set for yourself?

The key to long term success is for you to dedicate yourself to continuous improvement. If you become one tenth of one percent more productive each day, that amounts to 1/1000th improvement per working day. Is that possible? Of course it is!

Look at this example for doubling your productivity:

If you become accountable for one tenth of one percent more productive each day, that amounts to one half of one percent more productive each week. One half of one percent more productive each week amounts to two percent more productive each month, and 26% more productive each year.

Twenty-six percent more productive each year, with compounding, amounts to doubling your overall productivity and performance every 2.7 years. If you become 26% more productive each year, with compounding, times 10 years, you will be 1004% more productive over the next decade. That is an increase of ten times over ten years.

This is called the Law of Accumulation, or the Principle of Incremental Improvement. It is the primary reason for all great success stories. By the yard, it’s hard. But inch by inch, anything’s a cinch!

Take Action!

So what is it worth to YOU to have your goals met, your benchmarks achieved and continual improvement realized? If it is of utmost importance to you, then do something about it today!

If you are interested in an accountability program, and want more information about how one of my programs can help you fast-track your goals, feel free to give me a call at 404-551-3601 or click here to set up a complimentary meeting: Coffee & Conversation.

Don’t let ANOTHER year go by frustrated by the fact you are basically in the same situation you were the previous year. Do what the Top 10% of the world’s most successful individuals have done, and leverage the system of accountability to blaze past your competition! Your mental state and your bank account will thank you for it.