At the start of each year, I set ambitious goals and create accountability logs to track my progress. If readers click on my fitness log or finance log (links at top of each blog) they’ll see how I hold myself accountable to reach my highest potential. Anyone can create these kinds of accountability tools. They relate to self-awareness, growth, and the discipline to assess whether we’re on the right path, or whether we need to adjust.
I learned these principles of personal accountability from studying great leaders. Their strategies shaped my journey, teaching me how to:
- Define success,
- Create a plan that leads to success,
- Prioritize tasks,
- Adjust as necessary,
- Develop tools, tactics, and resources to accelerate success,
- Measure progress daily, and
- Execute the plan with consistency.
These lessons sustained me through 26 years in prison, and they continue to guide me in life today. For example, at the beginning of this year, I set three ambitious goals:
- Lose 25 pounds and drop my weight to 172 pounds.
- Build our Bitcoin portfolio to 25 Bitcoins.
- Run at least one 25-mile distance.
These goals require daily focus, incremental progress, a willingness to own our decisions and adjust as necessary. For instance, my fitness accountability log reveals that I aimed to run 216 miles in January. To meet that goal, I broke it down, setting out to run 80 miles during the first ten days of the month. That incremental goal would require me to run an average of 8 miles per day. Knowing that some days would demand extra effort due to other commitments, I planned to exceed 8 miles any day that I ran.
Yesterday, on January 8, my fitness log showed that I had run 57.53 miles. When I set the goal, I anticipated that I would be further along. As a result of the lower distance, my fitness log informed me that I would have to run about 22.5 more miles over the next two days to reach the goal. Unfortunately, other priorities kept me busy today, and I only ran 5.6 miles.
To reach the running goal I set at the beginning of the month, I’ll have to run 17 miles tomorrow. I know that I want to reach the goal, but the question remains on whether I can muster the will to push through a 17-mile run tomorrow. Several years have passed since I’ve run a distance of 17 miles. I’m now almost 61 years old. From my accountability log, I know that I’ll either rise to the challenge or miss my incremental goal.
But missing a goal isn’t failure unless we let it stop us.
Owning Our Failures
While in prison, I immersed myself in studying leaders who overcame setbacks to achieve greatness. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, in his groundbreaking book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, profoundly influenced my thinking. He argued that with the right mindset, we could transform setbacks into stepping stones toward mastery and fulfillment.
This perspective reshapes how we view failure:
- Own the failure. Recognize where we fell short.
- Learn from it. Reflect on what went wrong and why.
- Adjust the approach. Use insights from the setback to refine our plan and move forward.
Today’s shortfall doesn’t define tomorrow’s success. Whether I meet my running goal or not, I’ll use this moment to recalibrate, refocus, and keep striving.
Accountability Matters
Accountability is a tool for growth, not punishment. It keeps us honest about our progress, clarifies where we need to adjust so that we can stay on the path toward building confidence and resilience. These lessons apply universally—whether we’re tracking miles, finances, or personal transformation during challenging times.
I encourage readers to explore Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s Flow. His insights on the psychology of optimal experience provide valuable strategies for channeling focus, restoring confidence, and overcoming challenges. His name might be tricky to pronounce, but the principles he teaches in his book can help anyone who aspires to reach a higher potential.
Self-Directed Learning Question
How can you use accountability and setbacks as tools to refine your goals and grow toward reaching your highest potential?
