The power of accountability

In the middle of the pandemic, I read James Clear’s Atomic Habit and decided to implement his ideas in my personal life. I wanted to write every day and the system I went on to build for myself was powerful and so effective that it forced me to show up.

It was almost magical.

An important part of this system was accountability. For 30 days, I showed up for myself and wrote daily.

But then, after posting my writing streak on my social media platforms, my accountability system took on a life of its own.

Friends began to take an interest and I would get messages asking “hey what did you write about today?”

It was intriguing to me. I didn’t post initially for accountability, but it happened. So I continued doing it. I would occasionally update my audience via Instagram Story on how my writing was going. The very act of updating my audience also motivated me to show up and do the actual task of writing.

As I thought about what happened, I realised I had, unknowingly, engaged in a social contract. By telling my audience I was doing something and would continue to do it I was making a promise.

One of my biggest intentions for 2023 was to build better physical health. But by the end of July, I had made no progress. I was feeling terrible, gaining weight, and remote work was not helping matters. I could be locked in my house for weeks–working, reading, eating, sleeping, the occasional visit to see friends and to church and grocery runs. But I knew things had to change, but I had no motivation to change my routine!!

So, I had to pull out the big guns…

I visited a gym close to me, started working out and on the third day, I shared my journey on Instagram. My promise was, for the rest of August, I would show up at the gym every weekday and work out for at least 30 minutes.

The truth is, we do better when we’re held accountable. Even if it’s self-accountability. But some people are terrible in self-accountability especially when it comes to certain aspects of their lives. For me, that’s working out.

But now, I'm finding a bit of joy in the process. Now, I wake up every day at about 6:30 AM and almost immediately I'm off to the gym and back by 7:30 AM.

The principle of accountability has a powerful effect and is behind the formation of the Just Write community which I created in 2020. That community powered the start of this newsletter and the principles I use in writing weekly. It’s also the same principle I’ve used in showing up at the gym consistently through the month of August!

Every month, I will choose a new skill and keep building…

I’m sharing this in the hope that it motivates you to do the same.

Remember, it’s not the big and intense things that make a difference in your life, it’s the little things done every day that grow into remarkable habits.

As James Clear puts it:

The difference a tiny improvement can make over time is astounding. Here’s how the math works out: if you can get 1 percent better each day for one year, you’ll end up thirty-seven times better by the time you’re done. Conversely, if you get 1 percent worse each day for one year, you’ll decline nearly down to zero. What starts as a small win or a minor setback accumulates into something much more.

Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement

If you had to build a new habit before the end of the year, what would it be?

I’m curious to hear from you!