WEBVTT - Find gentle accountability

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>tip is to find gentle accountability. Lots of people find

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<v Speaker 1>it easier to stick with their goals and habits if

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<v Speaker 1>they know that other people are expecting them to There

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<v Speaker 1>is no need to take extreme measures. Almost any bit

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<v Speaker 1>of accountability can be helpful. A few weeks ago, I

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<v Speaker 1>hosted my annual time tracking challenge, when thousands of us

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<v Speaker 1>tracked our time together for a week. I encourage people

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<v Speaker 1>to sign up for daily motivational emails from me, and

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<v Speaker 1>I posted my own time logs on my blog. I've

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<v Speaker 1>been doing this challenge for ten years now, and I've

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<v Speaker 1>had several people tell me that they do it each

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<v Speaker 1>year and find it helpful for tweaking their schedules. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>on some level, that is a little strange, because if

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<v Speaker 1>you know time tracking is helpful, why wait until January

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<v Speaker 1>to do it? What is it about the fact that

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<v Speaker 1>thousands of other people are tracking their time that makes

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<v Speaker 1>it feel more doable? Because that's honestly all it is.

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<v Speaker 1>Knowledge of the crowd and daily mass emails. As I

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<v Speaker 1>tend not to be following up with individual people and

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<v Speaker 1>checking in on their timelogs daily and such. And yet

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<v Speaker 1>I know that even this gentlest level of accountability is

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<v Speaker 1>helpful for people. That's why I often write rough drafts

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<v Speaker 1>of novels in November, which was historically National novel writing Month.

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<v Speaker 1>Even a little accountability helps. So if you have something

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<v Speaker 1>you want to do, see if you can find just

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<v Speaker 1>a gentle layer of accountability that makes you feel like

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<v Speaker 1>you are not shouting into the void. One very simple

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<v Speaker 1>approach is to find an accountability partner. You do not

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<v Speaker 1>have to live in the same place. You don't even

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<v Speaker 1>have to talk to each other, though of course you could.

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<v Speaker 1>You just commit to sending each other an email once

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<v Speaker 1>a week or so to say what you have done

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<v Speaker 1>and what you plan to do. This person can encourage you,

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<v Speaker 1>congratulate you when you have achieved your goals, and just

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<v Speaker 1>as important, nudge you to get back on track when

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<v Speaker 1>you stumble, and you can do the same for them.

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<v Speaker 1>You can go a step further and form a small

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<v Speaker 1>accountability group. Again, you don't have to live in the

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<v Speaker 1>same place. You can just check in once a month

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<v Speaker 1>by zoom and say what you have done and what

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<v Speaker 1>you intend to do. It's not like these people have

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<v Speaker 1>any power over you, but in general we tend to

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<v Speaker 1>respond to positive support and encouragement. You could even find

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<v Speaker 1>a challenge that someone is running. I'm your goal pursuit

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<v Speaker 1>to that challenge. Maybe it is a six week boot

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<v Speaker 1>camp at your gym, or maybe it is a thirty

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<v Speaker 1>day walking challenge at work. Maybe it is a short

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<v Speaker 1>writing class that will help you shape an essay for publication.

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<v Speaker 1>By the end, look around and do your research and

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<v Speaker 1>see if there are other people doing what you want

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<v Speaker 1>to do. This might be worth investing a few resources

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<v Speaker 1>in to make it happen. Now Again, on some level,

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<v Speaker 1>this is all kind of silly. It is possible to

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<v Speaker 1>write a novel any month, or to stop drinking any month,

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<v Speaker 1>even if it is not dry January. There are no

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<v Speaker 1>real teeth to an accountability group, and yet people find

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<v Speaker 1>it helpful not to do things alone. So find some

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<v Speaker 1>gentle accountability, and it is just possible you will be

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<v Speaker 1>more likely to achieve your goals in the meantime. This

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<v Speaker 1>is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the

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<v Speaker 1>most of our time. Thanks for listening to before Breakfast.

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<v Speaker 1>If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback. You can reach

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<v Speaker 1>me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia,

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<v Speaker 1>please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you

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<v Speaker 1>listen to your favorite shows.