One of the best things that has happened to me this year was joining a new coaching program and within that group, I found my new accountability partner.
If you don’t know what an accountability partner is, it is someone who you talk to regularly about your business, goals, and tasks that you are both working on.
The best partners are ones who are at a similar stage of their business and may often be in similar industries.
It’s important that you are both at the same level (business growth/$$$) so that you will both be able to grow together and one isn’t holding the other back. You don’t want a pair with one person doing 6 figures already and is working on leverage in their business and the other is just at start up phase. It will be difficult for them to encourage each other.
To find an accountability partner, look at different groups you may be involved in.
Is there someone you have already built a relationship with that you’d feel comfortable asking them if they’d be willing to partner up with you?
Ideally, you’ll want to meet together at least weekly. Either by phone, skype, video chat, or if your partner is local, in person.
My partner happens to be in Europe so we video chat via Skype every Monday. We have similar businesses and are in similar stages of business growth so we are able to speak each other’s language and can help with suggestions for different projects.
Since starting this last month, I’ve gotten a lot more accomplished than if I’d been on my own. 🙂
Your “To Do” item for the week Look at who you know and talk with and see if you can find an accountability partner. Look at organizations you’re involved with, online memberships, or Facebook groups.
Test it out, and don’t worry if you don’t end up picking the perfect partner right away. Sometimes it takes a couple of tries to match up with the right person. (Just like dating!)
Share in the comments below: Do you already have an accountability partner? How has that increased your productivity? Do you have questions on how to pick the right partner? Share your thoughts. 🙂
Wife, mom to 3 wild and crazy boys, dark chocolate lover, entrepreneur, marketing strategist/web developer and author of Online Marketing Simplified:
The Beginner’s Guide to Using the Internet to Market Your Local Business 
Awesome! I’m looking for this for myself right now. I’ve joined a group coaching thing that starts in January, and I’m glad to be back in something like that. It’s been too long…and this is a smaller group too. The last group thing I was in, was a huge group, so anything you post gets quickly lost on the FB group. This should be a lot more intimate and a lot more helpful I think. I’m ready to fly in 2015!
Congratulations! I’ve found that even in groups I may not be paying for, there’s great value if we’re all going through the same changes together.
Being able to bounce ideas off of each other, relating to the same issues that are troubling us, or , or even just knowing that we have a safe place to vent is priceless.