I’ve spent a lot of time helping readers train more effectively, stimulate more muscle fibers, and use intelligent nutritional strategies. However, to allow any sort of protocol enough time to work, you must be consistent with your day-to-day efforts. I’ve highlighted five key areas you can focus on to improve your accountability and consistency.
Doing the right things on a daily basis and ticking them off for a long period of time is the quickest way to see positive changes taking place. Don’t focus on seeing very quick results because that will be short-lived. Instead allow consistent, daily efforts to accumulate over time. Consistency driven by accountability is the secret to seeing the results you want.
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Define Your Goals
You must have a clear vision of your goals, whether you want to get diced to the bone or add lean muscle. Often you’ll find it’s easy to get stuck between two goals and fail to make any progress, so your accountability suffers because you’re not seeing any changes taking place. Write down your goals and commit to them.
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Set a Time Frame
Knowing how long you have to achieve your goals will dictate how you go about achieving them. Be certain that your goals are realistic within the time scale you have set. For instance, dropping from 15% body fat to 5% in six weeks isn’t going to happen for most people. If you give yourself unrealistic goals, you will struggle to remain consistent and accountable because you’ll be disheartened.
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Manage Your Diet
I’ve always been a big proponent of using a varied diet for multiple reasons, one of them being that an enjoyable diet makes it easier to stay on it. The more you limit your food choices and food sources, the more likely you are to become inconsistent since it becomes harder to stick to. Yes, there needs to be some form of compromise and sacrifice where your diet is concerned. However, don’t make it more difficult than it needs to be.
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The Right Environment
The right gym can make the difference between making you enjoy your training on a day-to-day basis rather than resenting it. And it can be good for you if there are other people there who push you out of your comfort zone. Some healthy competition within this kind of environment can keep you more accountable.
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Commit to Someone Else
The ultimate step toward being accountable is hiring a good coach. However, I understand that isn’t always going to be feasible for everybody. With that said, you can still become answerable to somebody you trust in your gym. If you’re not doing the right things, they aren’t going to see any changes. This is why having somebody to look over you can be a great idea for increasing your accountability, because you want them to give you positive feedback only when you do things right. Just ensure this person you put your trust in A) understands what to look for and B) will tell you the truth!
