I recently had the privilege of being invited into a Momentum Accountability Group. This is managed by an exceptional human being by the name of Joseph Varghese.  We have all heard that your life and your income will closely resemble that of your 10 closest peers.  Joseph selected a group of about 40 successful and growing people, and through a complex matching system, he partners us with a new accountability partner every two weeks.  Although this program is extremely embracing and loving, it is semi-rigid in format. We set out our daily (and hourly) goals to our accountability partner at designated times, and we ask for support in the achievement of our total plan of action. Inside of this incredible group of people, what occurs is that we allow others to support us to our goals by not agreeing to listen to our “reasons” as to why we are not where we want to be. Additionally, we have group calls where all of us talk, and provide feedback to each other. Otherwise known as a mastermind.

If you are looking to make it in life and in business, I recommend that you find an accountability partner immediately! It is not the flurry of activity when you are motivated that counts – it is the consistent day-to-day follow-through of action. It is not the ideas in life that make us successful, but dedicated commitment to an outcome, and the willingness to do whatever it takes to get there. (But that is a whole ‘notha blog post )

I have the opposite problem – when I want something, I rush at it so hard and embrace and tackle the project so completely that I can end up knocking over the target.  I want something, and I want it NOW.  My accountability partner mentioned to me yesterday that while I need to do my part in the completion of a project, once my part is done, I should not try to force the issue. Simply accept that I have completed all tasks and done everything I had planned and set out to do. And then let go. Accept that I cannot force an outcome, but allow the outcome to unfold in perfect time. Even if that time is not in line with my mental time line.

I found this very unsettling, but it did make sense. While action is important, force is never effective. (And when I am in action, I am a force to be reckoned with – lol). So I took a deep breath… Ok – I took a number of deep breaths… a number of times. And then I thought: “how can I make this happen today..” So I took a deep breath again.  Who says that personal development is easy   And what I finally did was ask myself “have I done everything possible to influence this situation or cause it to be a success?” Because I had, I did realize that I could do nothing further than cause needless anxiety over it… So I let it go! I accepted that there was nothing at all I could do but allow people to make their own decisions, and the universe to provide the answers.

Two hours after I made that decision, I received an email from a prospect I had given up on. He had made his decision and was eager to close the deal. A hour later, I received two back-to-back calls from clients that wanted additional services and to finalize deals. Since those three calls, it has been a veritable flurry of activity of new and repeat business.

And so my accountability partner, Judy was right: Do everything you set out and plan to do. Know that you have done your best. Then let go the need for a specific desired outcome, and let events unfold organically. You will be very pleasantly surprised at the results!