Accountability · also called external commitment
how do I stop breaking promises to myself
Accountability is any structure that makes not doing the thing more costly than doing it. It works because it moves the decision out of your own head, where it can be renegotiated, and into a place where someone or something else is holding the other end.
What to do about it
Name one person who will notice if you stop. That is the whole mechanism.
Books that work on this
Each is a 90-day programme. Start with the first — later books assume the work in the earlier ones.
Sons Are Watching$6.99
The Discipline Blueprint$6.99
Discipline Over Motivation$6.99
The Iron Routine$6.99
Crushing Soft Habits$6.99
The 5AM Tax$6.99
Standards Beat Goals$6.99
Show Up Anyway$6.99Part of the Purpose series.
How people say it
Nobody looks this up by its clinical name. These are the ways it actually gets said.
- I only do it if someone is watching
- I need someone to check on me
- I keep letting myself off the hook
- how do I stop breaking promises to myself
- why do I show up for others but not me
- do accountability partners actually work
- I do it for my boss but not for me
- nobody notices if I quit
- I need a deadline or nothing happens
Written by Brian Spiker, who has run Spiker Carpet and Tile Care since 2013 — the receipts. More terms in the encyclopedia.