Accountability…it sounds so serious right? Well it doesn’t have to be.  You can make setting and achieving goals fun.  Keeping yourself on track does not have to be as boring as checklist and assessments.  Well this is a challenge to try something new and achieve your goals for the semester.  Try something outside the box to highlight the short term goals you have for yourself throughout the semester.  Allow your goals to go beyond just achieving an “A” in your classes.  Allow your goals to push you beyond just the grade book.  Focus on ways to improve your social, physical, mental, emotional, and financial health.  Create a goal in each area and really try to find ways you can set expectations, conquer fears, and learn something new about yourself.  Here are a few out of the box ideas on ways you can set goals and hold yourself accountable.

  1. Give yourself a reward.  A little bigger than a piece of cake, but smaller than a new car.  Think of something that you want that will be a motivating factor to help you focus and achieve your goal. Providing one large reward at the end or smaller milestone rewards will help keep you motivated to push toward the goal.
  2. Journal it.  Keep a daily/weekly reminder of your goals and what you are doing to achieve them. Constant reminders and progress assessments will keep you pushing.
  3. Find a partner.  There is nothing like having someone to encourage you along the way.  Find someone      that will positively support your goals.  You want someone that will not be a pushover and allow you to blow off your goals. You also want do not want someone that will push you so hard that the goal seems unattainable.  Lastly, you want someone that believes in what you are trying to achieve.  Sadly, your accountability partner may not be your best friend, or even a family member.  It could be a classmate, your roommate, or a coworker.
  4. Write a letter to your future self.  Describe your goals and the obstacles you had to overcome in order to make it to the end of the semester.  Tell yourself how proud you are and how you are so much better and stronger for sticking it out.  At the end of the semester, open the sealed letter and read what you “accomplished”.
  5. Vblog or keep a photo timeline of your progress.  Express yourself on YouTube or create a picture story of your journey.  Those two minutes could be the inspiration to help someone achieve their goals.  Knowing that you have an “audience” to report to will help keep you focused.

Goal setting is an important start to each semester.  Take time to find fun ways to keep you engaged to reach the end result.  An old-fashioned checklist works just as well, but finding new ways to hold yourself accountable allows you some flexibility on the journey.