How do you stay on track with the goals you set?

Who is there to prop you up when life can leave you punch drunk with drama and stress?

If you don’t include anyone else in your venture or invite them to join you along the way then it’s like going on a roller coaster without using the lap bar.

You’re going to fly off track (it will likely hurt less in business).

Mastermind groups

Look at your Twitter stream. Look at your Facebook friends. Check the “regulars’ in your email inbox.

Who are the people you can identify, right now, that have an interest in you. You want to contact a couple of them and let them know you value them and would like to include them.

Try something like this in an email or shorten it for direct message:

Hello [insert name],

Hey there I hope all is well with you these days.

I just wanted to drop you a line to say that I value your opinion and enjoy having you [as a Twitter follower or Facebook friend] as someone I can reach out to on occasion .

Recently I’ve started a project that I’m passionate about but I need encouragement to stay on course.

Would you mind hearing about what I’m doing so that you can help keep me on track when I start to slack off? All I’ll need is the occasional email, direct message, and/or Skype call to make sure I report to you that I’m keeping on task.

Message me back when you have a moment, please, and we’ll take it from there!

Signed  ~Me

Now, this isn’t a perfect template. I’m giving you ideas on how you can approach someone in your current circle of friends and followers. The point is, having a mastermind group or accountability partner is a major help.

Our group

Danny Iny, Paul Wolfe, and Caleb Wojcik and I are all in a mastermind group. You’ve likely seen Danny guest-posting his well-written and researched content on sites like Problogger and Copyblogger lately.

Paul, he’s a savvy guy for all things video marketing. I recommend you visit Paul’s site and opt-in for his 10 module course on How To Write an Ebook if you find you’re stuck creating your first (or next) ebook.

And there’s Caleb who’s working to educate twenty-somethings about personal finance – no easy feat!. This is a topic that deserves a lot more attention than it receives and Caleb’s the guy for this mission.

We meet every other Saturday on Skype to discuss our goals. We have a hot seat session at the beginning of our call to see where we all stand. Did we meet our stated goals?

Why or why not?

What will we accomplish in the next two weeks?

Then we chat about what we think of our future projects. It’s great. It holds us accountable to each other and we have victories to share on the next call.

Consider finding a group, even if it’s just one or two other people and open up a call. Flesh out your projects, your ideas, your desires for the future. You may be surprised what you come up with next.

Stay accountable

Give a mastermind group some thought for your project. Think about all those retired projects and dreams that you packed away. The ones you were excited about but then “shelved” because you just couldn’t get them done while living your life.

Write down your goals and pick up the phone or compose a new message to reach out to your accountability partner. Then work diligently to make sure the next week of experiences is one you’ll be proud to share with the group.

Feel free to contact me here if you’re lacking a support network and we can chat.

Do you have any accountability tips or hacks you can share?

Photo: dimi3