Do you ever feel like the goals you set never get accomplished? Let’s face it, your goal to become a CRNA requires you take small steps, hard work and commitment to achieve. While on your journey, you can easily lose motivation, focus and give up in the process.
According to a study by The American Society of Training and Development (ASTD), you have a 65% chance of completing a goal if you find someone to hold you accountable. And they also found if you actually had a scheduled accountability appointment with a person, your chances of accomplishing your goals further increases to an astounding 95%.
Read: How To Get Laser Focused And Actually Achieve Your Goals
The great thing is you can find an accountability partner right now. It can be a spouse, a reliable friend, a colleague, but even better another aspiring CRNA who understands what you are going through. And don’t forget me here at The CRNA Chase! This is so critical to your success that I even added it to one of the missions in CRNA Chase Academy which will be launching really soon!
“Accountability breeds responsibility”- Stephen Covey
Benefits of having an accountability partner:
- You subconsciously feel compelled to pay them back by achieving your goals
- People in general make better choices and apply oneself when being watched by others. The premise is pretty simple- when you are held accountable you work harder and you don’t want to disappoint others invested in you.
- You get constructive and honest feedback
- For example, I might be stuck on this one thing. And then my accountability partner comes in with a series of questions that helps me put the pieces together to get the goal accomplished.
- Gives you a different perspective
- You can’t be an expert in every area of your life so an accountability partner can help give you a different perspective. The great thing about this is everyone has their own views cultivated from their own experiences, knowledge or education. And as a result, they will help you make unbiased decisions that are best for accomplishing your goals.
- Gives you inspiration and encouragement
- You will find the naysayers will come out and try to dissuade you from going back to school to be a CRNA. So you not only lack support in your dreams but also no one is there to cheer you on. But when you have an accountability partner, you know for certain they will celebrate your wins whether big or small.
Qualities of an accountability partner
- Trustworthy
- Care about you and your progress
- Gives positive reinforcement
- Reliable
How do I select an accountability partner…
- Identify someone in your network working on the same or similar goal
- As mentioned earlier, having a like minded individual in your corner is automatically setting you up for success. For example, let’s say you need to take a Microbiology course as a prerequisite and your friend who works in ICU with you is your accountability partner and needs to take the same course. Then you can take it together, study together or just to run hard to understand concepts by each other.
- Find someone more disciplined than you are
- You may recall from last week’s article the definition of self- discipline is the ability to push yourself to take action towards your goals or agenda regardless of how you feel or think. Just imagine having someone else even more disciplined than you and ready to push you no matter what.
- Don’t just assume any friend or family member will do
- Now this is just my opinion and completely up to you because there are no specific requirements. But you want to choose someone who will not let you slack and will take you seriously and vice versa.
- Find a partner who has the time to invest in you and your goals
- You need a person who has time and energy to focus positively on your successes and goals. You want a partner you can easily get ahold of or cheer you on.
One way to increase your success of completing your goals and also holding your accountability partners accountable is by creating a weekly accountability statement. These are action items you promise to complete before the next meeting. In a way, they’re similar to milestones because they’re small actions that are part of a larger goal.
How to create an accountability statement
An accountability statement are action items you plan to complete prior to meeting or talking with your accountability partner preferably on a weekly basis. Your statement should be related to your overarching goal, be clear, possible, actionable and time bound.
Here is an easy way to remember how to create one, the PACT acronym:
- P: Possible- It’s okay to have lofty goals, but it should be realistically possible to accomplish within an allotted time. Again these are the small action items or milestones you will tackle and take down on the way to getting accepted into a CRNA program.
- A: Actionable- Make sure you make your statement actionable. One way to do this is by using a verb and making sure it has a clear set of actions of how you will accomplish this goal.
- C: Clear- Your statement should be clear, concise and easy for any to understand. You should also include possible obstacles and how you will adjust your plan accordingly.
- T: Time Bound Deadline- Ideally, you want to set the deadline by the next meeting or appointment. If the milestone will take longer to complete then just meet and give an update on the progress you’ve made this far.
So, starting today use the tips above to carefully select your accountability partner. Once you have chosen and spoken with your partner then begin working on your accountability statement. And then get busy setting milestones and getting them checked off so you can accomplish your long term career goals of becoming a CRNA.
P.S. I hope you could see the progression of articles this month which are theme based. This month was all about motivation/ goals/ focus which is the first stage you will run across in CRNA Chase Academy. Leave a comment and let me know your thoughts about sticking to monthly themes. Also be sure to get on the waiting list for the launch of CRNA Chase Academy.
