5 tips for keeping yourself accountable

If you’re new into fitness or restarting your journey to health, here’s 5 tips to help keep yourself accountable:

1. Have a plan:

Remember the phrase, ‘fail to plan and plan to fail’? Well, that’s never been more accurate. If you want to get going – you need to know where you’re going. Even if it’s a small plan, jot it down, add it to the calendar. You can always shift things around but I’ve found that writing it down in the calendar helps to ensure I never miss a workout.

For example:

• Mon: Train
• Tues: Meal prep
• Wed: Train + Night in with the girls
• Thurs: Appointment + Meal prep
• Fri: Train
• Sat: Train
• Sun: Active recovery

2. Use a power list:

Now that you have a plan, use a Power List to get yourself organised. If you’ve never heard of it, it’s a concept developed by Andy Frisella. It’s super simple and easy to get started. Either at the beginning or at the end of the day, write down 5 tasks that will move you forward. Yes, only 5. No more, no less. Check them off as you complete them. When you complete them all, write a big W for Win or L for Lose. Sounds simple enough, right? I like to do them on post its or in my bullet journal so I can clearly see my levels of productivity. Here’s the kicker: the bigger the winning streak gets, the more your confidence grows. Once a task becomes a habit, you can take it off the list and replace it with a new one. The idea is to sustain consistent growth every day.

Using Monday as an example:

1. Train
2. Order groceries for tomorrow’s meal prep
3. Have gym kit ready to go in the morning
4. Drink 3 L of water
5. Check in with myself or bestie

Aim to minimize the amount of L’s over time without getting discouraged. See it as an indictor to getting back on track.

3. Set yourself one non-negotiable for the day:

Having a goal, a plan and a Power List means you’re one step closer but we know shit doesn’t always go to plan. So here’s the next level in that’s worked well for me. Pick one of those 5 things that are an absolute non-negotiable. Meaning, even if the day is looking like a big fat L, you have to get it done. It can be anything: read 2 pages before bed, call one person today, meditate, hit your steps, put phones away while eating dinner. Choose something that you know you want to work on that will incrementally move you closer to the goal.

Using the Power List above as an example:

1. Train
2. Order groceries for tomorrow’s meal prep *Non-negotiable*
3. Have gym kit ready to go in the morning
4. Drink 3 L of water
5. Check in with myself

4. Use the Habit stacking method:

One of the best ways to build a new habit is to identify a current habit you already do each day and then stack your new behavior on top. This is called habit stacking.

The habit stacking formula is:

After/Before [CURRENT HABIT], I will [NEW HABIT].

For example:

• After I pour my cup of coffee each morning, I will take my vitamins.
• After I train, I will have my post-workout meal
• After I sit down to watch tv, I will put on my blue light blockers
• After I brush my teeth, I will stand on the scale

The reason habit stacking works so well is that your current habits are already built into your brain. You have patterns and behaviours that have been strengthened over years. By linking your new habits to a cycle that is already built into your brain, you make it more likely that you’ll stick to the new behaviour.

5. Visualise your best self:

I know, this one is a bit woo-y but hear me out. Imagine if you won every single day for 8 weeks of what challenge, or how much you would have accomplished. Visualise yourself this way every day and act like that version of you would. Whatever the mood, keep moving forward. One step at a time and when all else fails, just visualise how much your future self is going to be grateful you did it.

That’s it! Drop me an email, comment or DM on IG and let me know how it’s going and if you’d like to hear more about things like this in the future.

Happy conquering!