Research has found that people are much more likely to reach goals when they are accountable to someone other than themselves for success. It’s human nature – most of us find it harder to disappoint others than to disappoint ourselves.
Accountability makes a huge difference:
You have a 65% chance of completing a goal if you simply commit to someone else when you set the goal.
Your chances of success increase to an astounding 95% if you schedule regular appointments with the person you committed to.
That’s right, 95%.
Those numbers are even more remarkable when you consider what usually happens: More than half of us fail to make any change stick longer than 6 months, and the average person tries the same change 10 times without success. (Source)
Even before studies began quantifying the impact, insights into human nature launched the concept of accountability partnerships back in the 1960s. While it’s tempting to set up accountability partnerships with friends, family or co-workers, personal ties can get in the way.
On the home-front, loved ones may find it hard to hold you accountable because they don’t want you to feel bad. With issues on-the-job, you may not feel comfortable being that vulnerable with co-workers.
That’s where coaching makes a difference.
Good coaches are objective third-parties trained in behavior change concepts and experienced in helping people stay accountable. A trained coach will work with you to build an accountability system focused solely on you – designed around your aspirations, your timeline and your particular set of challenges and issues.
Consider Abe – he has challenges with procrastination. A coach worked with him to identify steps and strategies to get those monthly reports done, and they brainstormed possible solutions.
Together, they set up regular checkpoints, including a daily check-in during the crunch period, to help Abe stay on track each month. With coaching, he developed new habits to submit those reports on time each month and was able to experience the benefits of reaching his goal.
Coaching helps you stay accountable, so you make and sustain important change. See our related blog post to read about more benefits of coaching.
For more information on how Sibly can help your organization, reach out to us at sales@sibly.com or click here.
Abe is an illustrative example only, representative of Sibly coaching experiences. Actual Sibly coaching remains confidential and anonymous.