How to Stay Accountable and Stop Self-Sabotage

The Incrementalist

To gain traction and execute better on your goals, start with a 12-week action plan instead of a longer term, annual plan. Rather than wait an entire year to track progress and measure results, you do a formal review every 12 weeks. And in the 13th week, you make a plan for the next 12 weeks.

As part of your routine, you score the week, plan the week, and participate in weekly accountability meetings (WAM). Stay accountable by owning your thinking, choices and actions. Keep your commitments by uncovering hidden intentions, internal contradictions and big assumptions that undermine your desired behavior.

In episode 28 of The Incrementalist podcast, you will learn:

1. The benefits of making a 12-week action plan for the 12-week year

2. The weekly routine involves scoring the week, planning the week and having accountability meetings

• The difference between measuring lead versus lag indicators
• Why you will benefit from a daily review and weekly review to track your actions and progress
• How a support group can help you when you're struggling with accountability

3. Accountability is not about negative, external consequences or punishment for bad performance or rewards for good performance. It’s about ownership.

4. Commitment means you keep your promises to yourself and to others. It is part of being accountable.

5. Commitment involves:

• Having a clear, compelling vision of what you want to create in life, which gives rise to intentional imbalance
• Defining specific key actions to reach big goals
• Counting the costs, including what you will need to give up and the obstacles you will face

6. The Immunity to Change model and how it affects your capacity to change

• Competing commitments are for self-protection and self-preservation, but they often get in the way of your accomplishing improvement goals and making necessary change
• The importance of hitting resistance straight on
• Why you need to uncover hidden intentions, internal contradictions and big assumptions to execute key actions

7. Lack of execution - not lack of knowledge, insight, ideas or network - is what most prevents you from aligning with your vision and implementing your desired actions

Resources cited:

• Brian Moran & Michael Lennington, The 12 Week Year: Get More Done in 12 Weeks than Others Do in 12 Months
• Robert Kegan & Lisa Laskow Lahey, Immunity to Change: How to Overcome It and Unlock the Potential in Yourself and Your Organization
• Dyan Williams, The Incrementalist: A Simple Productivity System to Create Big Results in Small Steps
• The Incrementalist podcast, Ep. 27, How to Accomplish More in 12 Weeks Than in 12 Months

Music by:

• Sebastian Brian Mehr

Dyan Williams
Check out the book: The Incrementalist, A Simple Productivity System to Create Big Results in Small Steps
Visit website: www.dyanwilliams.com
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