One of the best ways to achieve your goals, whatever they might be: launching a business, finding balance in life, starting a diet, being a better parent, or getting your home organized is through finding a person to hold you accountable. I can’t talk enough about the benefits of having someone checking on you, on your plans and goals and making sure you will work hard to achieve them.

Today, we have my dear friend and client, Charlena Smith, creator and founder of Optio, personality expert, and empowerer of humans, sharing with us her five secrets to find the perfect accountability partner. Let’s check her tips!

5 WAYS TO ENSURE A GREAT ACCOUNTABILITY PAIRING

EMPOWERING/SYMBIOTIC PERSONALITIES
The best accountability partner is not your best friend. You need someone who challenges you regularly. Someone who isn’t going to let you slide because you’ve had a hard week. Their natural personality traits should compliment yours in ways that makes you dive deeper than ever before and grants you access to inner strengths you may not even be aware of.

RESPECT
You want your accountability partner to be someone you respect, because failing in your goals would mean disappointing that person. If you respect a person, or a system, the fear of disappointing them can be a powerful motivator. If you don’t respect the system or your partner, you probably don’t care so much if you disappoint them and therefore might not stick to your promises. It’s important for your partner to respect you, too, so that he or she can motivate you into performing better.

TRUSTWORTHINESS
An accountability partner will likely be involved in the more intimate details of your life, so you want it to be someone you trust implicitly. For instance, if you’re looking to pay off debt, your chosen partner will be closely involved in your finances. That’s not an area of your life where you want just anyone. You may not want it to even be someone you know ‘in real life’. Make sure that they’re worthy of that great level of trust, or leverage a systemed pairing to ensure trust is present.

INVESTMENT
An ideal accountability partner is one who is equally invested in your progress. Try to match similar goals, and be sure you’re both motivated to achieve them.

AVAILABILITY
Even if a person you know is perfectly trustworthy, respectful, and goal oriented, they can’t be a good accountability partner if you can never get a hold of them. Create a defined structure and secure a habit around your accountability.

Meet Charlena Smith
Creator & Founder of Optio, Personality Expert, Empowerer of Humans

Between being a mama to two amazing grade-school kiddos and wife to a legit NASA rocket scientist, Charlena is committed to helping women entrepreneurs see the power in vulnerability, understand the malleability of their personalities, and build partnerships and communities that stretch all of us toward our biggest accomplishments.