Want Success… Then Ask for Help!
July 21, 2007 – 5:24 am“No man is an island. No man stands alone. Each man’s joy is joy to me, each man’s grief is my own.”
These are the words of the poet John Donne, and were used in a top selling record in the 1960’s and are ageless, because they express an ageless need. You see we are social creatures and cannot survive by ourselves. None of us have all the gifts and talents needed to survive, and examples of self-sufficiency such as hermits or mountain men are not what could be deemed a successful life.
Now I do not want to get into definitions of being “successful” because that is not an argument anyone could truly win. What I want to talk about instead is how to improve your chances of succeeding at meeting your goals.
If you recall from lasts weeks message I sent you, I talked about making a plan, making it your plan and sticking to your plan. I truly believe those are the initial ingredients to achieving success in regards to meeting your goals however making a plan and making it your plan are all well and good but the simple fact is if you do not stick to your plan then you may as well have no plan at all.
So how does one ensure that they stick to a plan?
“Accountability Partners”
I am sure you have heard the term “Mastermind Groups”.. well this is essentially the same except it does not “Need” to be a group of more then 2 or 3 people. Often times people think of Mastermind Groups as larger groups and that is in fact less productive then a smaller group (in my opinion).
What is an “Accountability Partner”? It is simply someone (or two) that you meet with on a regular basis with a common goal… that goal is to review what each one of you are doing, what your goals are and bounce questions off. It needs to be no more then that but the most important part of the entire concept is “Accountability” in reference to achieving goals.
You see often times when we create plans, we have them made up of HUGE goals and when we do not achieve them we get discouraged and give up. Instead what we need to do is take small steps and make small achievable goals and then have someone who you will have to answer to and explain why your goal was not reached… but more importantly you will have someone to help encourage you and push you to reach your goal.
Now, I think I know some of you are thinking…
- who would want my help, I am no expert in anything?
- How do you agree upon objectives?
- I have no time!
- Who can I trust?
- How can you uphold accountability?
These are all great questions… and I know they are question some of you are thinking because I have asked people. So here is my answers to your questions 
Who would want my help, I am no expert in anything??
Despite how little you think you might know, and even if you are just starting out in your field, you will find that there is always some knowledge you have that you can share with others. Also, lacking experience can be a good thing, because you have a fresh outlook and new ideas to offer to those of us who have been working for a while and may be stuck in repetitive work patterns. As well, when you ask questions you will be prompting us to take the time to think about why we do what we do and if there is a better way we can accomplish our goals. If you consider these points, you will see how you can benefit from being part of the group, and how the group can benefit from having you as a member.
How do you agree upon objectives?
When a Mastermind Group or an Accountability Partnership is first formed, the group or team decides what objective, or goal, they would like to accomplish. It can be as specific as creating a website a week, or as general as just meeting to bounce ideas off each other about individual projects. After an objective has been agreed upon, the group then forms an agenda, or blueprint, which lays out the tasks and steps that need to be completed in order to accomplish the objective. At each meeting, the agenda is followed. At the end of each meeting, there is an open time set aside for questions and discussion outside of the agenda so to keep side tracked conversations from extending meeting times.
I have no time!
Part of the purpose of this entire concept is to encourage each other in their work and to hold each other accountable to meeting certain goals. This helps you to learn to better manage your time and tasks. What it really comes down to, though, is priorities: do you consider this worthwhile enough to make time for? Often, if we let them, little tasks like answering telephone calls and writing emails can take up most of the day, while more important items get put on the back burner. You have to consciously set aside time to work on what you consider to be of high importance. Meeting once a week for no longer than one hour in return for encouragement and better chances of succeeding at your goals is a small time slot to give up.
Who can I trust?
Think about this from this perspective: do this because I want to “give” and “receive” support and advice, not because I want to profit financially by stealing ideas from the others. If each member wants to receive honest opinions and support from the other members and wants to be able to share information within the confidentiality of the group, it makes sense that each member will be honest and trustworthy in how they interact with one another. Once you have been meeting with the group for a few meetings, you can get a general sense of what the other members are like and what their goals are. This can then direct how much you want to share with the group. If you are honest and trustworthy, you can expect that other members of the group will be as well.
How can you uphold accountability?
Expectations should be clearly laid out at the beginning when the Partnership is formed. Talk about what goals and responsibilities each member will have in helping to accomplish the objective of the group. It is a good idea at this point to establish a plan of action for how the group will resolve an issue if a group member continuously fails to meet expectations and goals. If there are more then 2 in your group then it is best, if there is conflict of this type, for the group to meet outside of the regular weekly meeting to talk about the situations, compare it to what the agreed expectations are and then decide the best way possible to deal with the issue. the expectations shouls be clear enough so the individual knows that this meeting is taking place. Make all expectation clear up front so when situations arise you will know the agreed upon way to resolve it.
So hopefully the only question left know is who to crate a partnership with. The best method to do that is to find others who are part of something you are a part of such as a membership site or forum and ask. It may even be as simple as asking a friend. The point is, find others (even if it is just one person) who you can work with to help you Stick To Your Plan!
Talk to you soon
Jason Katzenback
