Should you happen to drop by in the afternoon, chances are you would find me pacing between my living room and bedroom. Nervous? Frustrated?

Not exactly. I’m probably making a final attempt to reach my step counter goal. Since I began using that little addition on my iPhone, I’m walking farther than I thought I could. 

Counting steps isn’t the only benefit, however. It’s a daily reminder about the power of being accountable.

It’s easy to forget that when you go to work for yourself. After all, one of the best things about being self-employed is that there aren’t any time clocks, performance reviews or limited vacations.

One of the worst things about being self-employed is that there aren’t any time clocks, performance reviews or limited vacations. Without deadlines and the expectations of others, many new entrepreneurs flounder.

It’s not just the headiness of all that time that have to manage for ourselves. Distractions, isolation and lack of clarity can all conspire to keep us from growing the business of our dreams.

If you suspect that you could accomplish more than your current performance, start taking a look at how you could be more accountable. Being accountable isn’t an accident. It’s a discipline we need to embrace if we are to have a reputation for doing what we say we’re going to do. 

Simple adjustments could make a big difference. 

Paul McCartney once told an interviewer that he used to drive his late wife Linda to cooking classes. The first week, he went to a back room and spent the time writing a song.

When the class ended, people asked McCartney if he had been bored waiting. “No,” he said, “I wrote this little tune. Would you like to hear it?”

The class was thrilled, of course, to be the first to listen to a new creation and it became his weekly ritual. He said knowing that they were expecting a new song by the end of the class kept him on his toes.

Want to stay on track? Find an entrepreneurial friend who is willing to be your accountability partner. Return the favor. This isn’t the same as hiring a professional nag, by the way. We all need someone in our lives that isn’t willing to let us settle for less than the best we can be.

Master Mind Groups serve the same purpose, of course. Whether it’s one kindred spirit or a small group, finding someone who wants you to succeed can be one of the best things you can do for yourself and your business. 

Quite simply,  having an accountability partner is an act of commitment to yourself. 

Accountability Opportunity

The Brainstorming with Barbara sessions have been even better than I anticipated. Even though we only spend an hour together, that time is meant to be a catalyst for moving ahead. 

I’m thrilled when an email shows up from someone I’ve worked with. 

Here’s one of the post-brainstorming emails I’ve received. This one comes from Lucas,  who was the very first person to sign up. He wrote, “After our session a few weeks back, I decided to audition an idea I had which was to run a free 90 minute session on the Zoom platform. I had the idea on a Wednesday and set the class for Saturday of the same week- not much lead up time! I was surprised at the response with over thirty folk registering for it. It was hugely successful and has opened up a potential profit centre.  This little experimental endeavor has got me motivated to set up a number of short courses that I can be conduct online. I can imagine a whole suite of them.”

So if you’d like some up close and personal conversation with a self-employment advocate, hop on over to https://joyfullyjobless.com and we’ll  find a time for a Zoom chat of our own. 

Warning: once you’re on my radar and I know what your business is about, I may keep sending you appropriate resources and ideas as I come upon them. I hope you won’t mind.