I have been working diligently lately to be more consistent in my rituals and self-practice. I have set some personal targets to embrace being strong in mind and body. I kickstarted my new year, by completing my first Park Run.

To keep myself accountable for achieving this physical goal, I have returned to several habit-forming resources from my clinic shelves. I sourced a simple hack from ‘The Happiness Trap’ by Russ Harris, tracking my progress with colouring mandalas — recording and rewarding. I track my success and am rewarded with beautiful pictures that I display and continue to enjoy after reaching the target.

I am a little neuro-spicey, with a side dish of menopause. This can often leave me feeling vague or wanting to procrastinate. However, when I introduce accountability into my routines, I can experience a safe level of honesty. I can both see and feel the positivity of my success steps and this motivates me to continue with my progress regardless of what I am doing.

I often feel chaotic and even sometimes overwhelmed when all those mental tabs remain open. However, this anxiety sensation can be diminished when I use my accountability behaviours such as tracking with colouring. When I colour and see the picture come to life, I am actively transforming my mindset, and this enables me to step forward to take action, more often.

Accountability is not just about taking responsibility for your actions. You can allow it to be so much more. You can utilize accountability habits to not only acknowledge progress but also celebrate every step of your journey.

When you begin to create accountability behaviour (s), I find simple actions that take little time to complete are the easiest companions. For example, try tracking each accomplished task such as my daily walk, or number of glasses of water.

The tracking isn’t limited to physical actions. I also track increments of every $100 I make, so that I can create a sensation of abundance in my body when I look at the picture coming to life.

By tracking each completed action, you can visualize your progress, which can fuel your motivation.

Gifting myself small deposits to your motivation bank. This makes me feel good and can give me a quick dopamine hit. Small boosts to my motivation are like banking credits to my future happiness.

It is this act of self-cheer leading that propels me toward ongoing and greater success, and that is the ultimate gift of self-love.

When you can self-motivate you create an addiction to achieving more positive outcomes which contribute to bigger goals. Your subliminal habit will naturally evolve to crave positive attempts and ultimately performance rather than avoidance or procrastination.

Therefore becoming accountable boosts your chances of generating initial success and maintaining it to achieve and then stretch your target.

So let me ask you this — is today one day in the cycle of many, or is today DAY ONE? If today is day one, seek out an adult colouring book and track your success!

First published with WordGarden, a Medium Publication. Click here this piece.

Listen to the audio version via the “I Am Change-ing” Podcast – click here

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