Jim Rohn, self-made millionaire and successful author, said “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with”. Brian Tracy once said that: “you cannot scratch with the turkeys and fly with eagles”; you cannot relate with mediocre, uninspired and unfocused people and expect yourself to be different from them.
You need to surround yourself with people who empower you, compliment your areas of expertise, and fill in the gaps you are missing. Those who can help you step outside your comfort zone to accomplish the goals you set out, and can keep you accountable for actually doing what you say you are going to do.
You will be inspired by them and receive resources from them. Joining or creating accountability, mastermind, or a coaching group is a great way to surround yourself with like-minded, driven, successful people that will propel you to higher level of success.
Who is holding you accountable? Who helps you be more creative? Who inspires you? With all of the bad news about the economy, downsizing, market crashing and so on it is more important than ever that you take steps to learn something new, find an accountability program that you can implement, and surround yourself with successful people who are on the same path as you.
The next time you are looking to learn something new, find a program that has accountability tied to it. Not just a one day seminar that inspires you, I run a program for Referral Institute based on the book The 29% Solution. It is a weekly tele-program and every week I am responsible for holding my callers and participants accountable for doing the work, not just reading the book. In the process, it holds me to a higher level of accountability and we all win.
So think about it, what programs are you in or who have you surrounded yourself with that creates accountability for you this year.
Hazel owns and operates a franchisee of Referral Institute, a worldwide referral marketing training organization. As a Master Trainer, Hazel provides business-expansion expertise to entrepreneurs and corporations by teaching business professionals comprehensive referral marketing stratagem. In 2006, her franchise earned both the Top-Grossing Franchise award and the honor of hosting the Referral Institute International Conference.
January 27th, 2009 at 2:21 am
I have several people in my life that will hold me accountable to my word – and that includes whether I promise to meet a deadline or if I promise to take my daughter to the zoo. Finding an accountability partner is a great productivity tool.
Although there are always natural consequences when things don’t get done, sometimes we just take the easy way out. But for really important tasks, I will set up a consequence for myself if I don’t get it done. Usually I’ll put together a to-do list including work tasks and things like meditation or a walk.
Don’t forget to celebrate your accomplishments and allow for “relaxing time” in your schedule; pencil it in just like any other appointment.
Shann