Accountability: How to Achieve Your Goals

As we are approaching the annual “spring forward” this Sunday, I have begun reflecting on New Year’s resolutions.  Maybe it’s losing the extra weight they put on over the holiday season, maybe it’s training to run one 5K per month, or maybe, like me, they are planning on taking a graduate school entrance exam (MCAT here I come!)  When reading through your resolutions list, many may sound like the ghosts of resolutions past.  How many times have each of us said “Now THIS is the year that I do [enter resolution here]!”?  And yet, as late spring rolls around, our running shoes have collected dust, our pantry is filled with unhealthy snacks that we are not keeping track of, and our study supplies are packed away in storage.  We start to make excuses – “I’ve been overwhelmed with a project at work”, “I was busy with my kids”, “I don’t have the money for a gym membership”, etc.  These excuses allow us to relapse into old habits and forget the resolve we had in January.  I mean, there’s always next year, right??

Now for some of us (myself included) there comes a point when we desperately want to break away from this cycle and finally achieve these New Year’s resolutions, becoming the better versions of ourselves. When that time comes, accountability is a major asset.  Simply by having another person, whether it’s a couple of people, or your entire list of Facebook friends list aware of the goals you have set for yourself makes it a lot harder to skip that morning jog, opting instead for a muffin at Starbucks. 

Personally, I am absolutely guilty of “recycling” my resolutions.  I have found that accountability has become my ultimate sidekick, the most powerful tool that keeps me going.  Take the MCAT (the medical school entrance exam), for example.  I have told anybody who will listen that I plan to take the infamous exam at the beginning of this summer.  I have explicitly set up a study schedule and I text my mom every night after I’m done with my session.  If I don’t text her, she usually texts me (she’s very on top of her game.  Go Mom!)  Although I don’t want to disappoint myself by doing poorly on the exam, I certainly don’t want to disappoint her (or any other friends who have been patient and unwavering in their support through this journey). 

This same idea can be applied to the different treatment options that Drs. Hyman and Chimes recommend to their patients.  If 30 minutes of daily exercise is what the doctor ordered and you know that there might be days when the devil on your shoulder tells you to skip the gym and stay in bed, enlist a friend to come along! First of all, you’re much less likely to flake out on a friend than you are on yourself.  Second, the exercise will be much more fun with a friendly face right there, pounding the pavement with you, in turn, making it more likely that you’ll form a healthy new habit!  If one of the treatment recommendations is tracking your food intake, whether on paper or in a food tracking app like www.myfitnesspal.com, send a copy of each day’s intake to somebody, such as your spouse, your nutritionist, or personal trainer.

Another way to be held accountable is to have money on the line.  Spending $300 to take the MCAT definitely makes me only want to take it once, and that motivates me to stick to a strict study schedule. In regards to exercise, one can sign up for a paid class or a personal trainer.  It is much harder to miss a workout when you know it will cost you a $70 training session or a $25 exercise class.  Knowing that there is money on the line certainly makes each of us more likely to follow through.  You probably would not skip out on your massage appointment; so don’t skip out on your workout! 

Whichever method of accountability you choose, the doctors and staff at Lake Washington Sports and Spine are here to support you on the path to achieving those New Year’s resolutions and becoming the best version of yourself!