Yesterday, I spent some time with my mom, a.k.a MY business coach. She’s been the ultimate accountability partner in helping me get to the next level in my business. We talk almost every day and she knows how to ask me the tough questions about how I’m spending my time and reminding me of the goals I set out to accomplish this year. Of course, it helps that my mom is an entrepreneur herself, with a business that’s already earning six figures, which is where I want to be! I’m able to get so much more done knowing that she’s going to ask me about my progress on a regular basis.

Do you have someone in your life like that? Do you have an accountability partner?

What is an accountability partner?

• a friend, family member, co-worker, mentor, coach or someone else you can trust to help you keep a commitment
• someone on the same path as you or simply willing to help you in your specific journey
• someone who can help you stay on track toward reaching your goals
• someone who stands firm and won’t let you get away with making excuses or procrastinating
• someone who will ask you all those difficult questions we tend to avoid

It’s so important to have someone – paid or otherwise – to help keep you on track with your goals in life and business. It’s so easy for a year, five years, or even 10 years to go by and you still up there talking about how you’re “trying” to start a business, lose weight, get back into the dating game, etc.

There’s nothing wrong with asking or even paying someone to help you. It just means that you’re serious about your goals. And if you’re really serious about changing your life, wouldn’t you WANT someone to make sure you keep moving forward? Otherwise, it may never happen for you…

Of course, most of us already KNOW what we need to do to reach our goals. We know the steps, it’s just that we need help (a.k.a. a kick in the butt) to take action. Sometimes we get stuck because we’re holding a subconscious belief that we don’t deserve success. Sometimes we’re procrastinating due to a fear of failure. An accountability partner (and especially an actual coach) won’t allow you to let those blocks keep you down!

How to find an accountability partner:

• Ask a trusted friend, family member, co-worker, or mentor to help you. Make an ongoing weekly or monthly appointment to share a “progress report” by phone or in person.
• Hire a coach. The benefit of a coach is that she will be objective in helping you reach your goal, whereas sometimes our loved ones can have ulterior motives in the advice they give. It’s not on purpose or in any kind of malicious way, it’s just that they typically want what they think is “best” for you.
• Seek out online communities where there are people who have the same interests and goals as you. You want to surround yourself with other people who are making positive changes in their lives, because they will be more likely to want to help you do the same thing. Personal growth is contagious!

Leave a comment:

1. If you already have an accountability partner, how did you find them?
2. If you want one, what’s the next step you will take to get one?

“A year from now you will wish you had started today.” – Karen Lamb

In my recent post, I shared with you my story about achieving my initial income goal within my first year of working for myself. Have you ever accomplished something that at first seemed impossible? If so, then you know how I’m feeling right now. Hopeful. Motivated. Optimistic for the future. And the best part is that now I have the opportunity to develop new goals for my life and business.

Now, I have the courage to play an even bigger game.

Right after I wrote that post though, I got an email from a reader that I wanted to share with you in case you might be struggling with the same thing. Or you may have some additional advice for our sister in the comments!

Hi Rosetta. I have been following your blog for a while now, and I really enjoy it. You are definitely an inspiration as far as entrepreneurship. I read your post today and I have been wanting to ask you, where did you get your training to be a life coach? I have been looking into several different programs, but I’d love to hear of where you got your training.

I actually get quite a few emails from aspiring coaches asking where I got my coach certification. I always make it clear that I am NOT certified, nor do I plan to be anytime soon. Most people don’t know that you DON’T have to have any type of certification to be a coach. None. It’s not required and the programs are usually quite expensive.

Here’s what I told her:

You are not required to have formal training to be a coach. I have successfully helped my clients for over 2 years without it. I am not certified, nor do I plan to be anytime soon. I will, however be taking my first-ever coach training course later this month in DC with acclaimed coach, speaker and author Valorie Burton.

We had a great follow-up exchange after that as well.

How did you start coaching people? I have been so incredibly hesitant to launch coaching/advice services on my site because of lack of training…I keep feeling that because I have not been actually coached to coach, I may not know enough to truly help people in their personal situations. Is it just my fear that is stopping me? What were the first steps you took and how did you know you’d be able to successfully serve people?

I love questions like this. They are the questions we already know the answer to, but that our lizard brain won’t let us see for ourselves. That’s why sometimes it takes confirmation from someone else.

Yes, it is mostly fear and not fully trusting in your own gifts. Your heart has already shown you that you are ready to serve…now it is up to you to listen and act. To answer your question, I just…started. And then the people showed up. I wish the same for you.

And YOU. Start now. Today.

I know. It seems so easy for me to say, right? Well, that’s honestly the very best thing I can say. Get going. Because the sooner you start serving people, the sooner you’ll be able to start learning along the way – what you need and don’t need. What you’re good at and what you’re not. There is never a “perfect time” to begin. There is no way you can or ever will know everything first.

Also: Don’t fool yourself into thinking more education will automatically make you successful in your business. Action plus results trumps all.