Influencers from Around the World - An Accountability Partner Can Help Your Life

Readers of Influence PEOPLE know Hoh Kim because of his guest posts to the Influencers from Around the World series over the years. Hoh is also a Cialdini Method Certified Trainer® (CMCT®) and I actually met him when we trained together under Dr. Cialdini. In addition to his CMCT® Hoh has his masters in communication from Marquette University. I encourage you learn more about Hoh by visiting his website, The Lab h, and his blog, Cool Communications. You can also connect with Hoh on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

Brian, CMCT® 
influencepeople 
Helping You Learn to Hear “Yes”.

An Accountability Partner Can Help Your Life

1,000 Places to See Before You Die by Patricia Schultz is one of my favorite books. It has been the ultimate travel guide for me for many years. What are your “100 things to-do before you die” or perhaps more appropriately, “100 things to-do while you live”? If you need a reference, check the book 2 Do Before I Die: The Do-It-Yourself Guide to the Rest of Your Life by Michael Ogden and Chris Day. On your to-do list could be driving from Boston to Seattle, quitting your job and opening a restaurant, or countless other things.

Do you have a “10 things to do every day” list? It’s easy! Here's my example:

1. 30-minutes of exercise.

2. 30-minutes reading a classic book.

3. Help my wife.

4. Help one person outside of my home.

5. Plan for the next day.

6. Control my eating.

7. Not allow myself to be interrupted by SNS or my blackberry too much.

8. Focus one important thing for the day.

9. Not hurt someone by saying something bad or insensitive

10. Praise someone

You’ve probably heard of this kind of list from friends or seen it in movies like "The Bucket List" with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. Having your “lifetime 100 to-do list” can help you live a more full life and your “daily 10 to-do list” can help you day by day. But, having lists is not enough. You need one more thing if you really want to achieve something on your daily life and lifetime – an accountability partner.

Here is an example of what an accountability partner means. Everyday at 10 pm I have a five-minute phone call with one of my friends. The call is simple. We ask each other about the “daily to-do list” we’ve shared beforehand and simply tell each other whether we fulfilled our 10 items or not. In this case, the friend becomes your accountability partner.

I got this idea from an article where Marshall Goldsmith, one of the best leadership coaches in the world, was interviewed. The term “accountability partner” came to my attention in the article, which was written by Natalie Houston.

Dr. Cialdini had said many times, “People need to publicly commit in order to leverage the principle of consistency.” This can happen when trying to persuade others and when persuading yourself. To better persuade yourself to do something, you need to commit to that something publicly, and having an accountability partner is an excellent way to do that.

So, why don't you grab a pencil and notebook, and start to develop your top 10 things you must do every day. Next, find your accountability partner and commit to check-in with each other. It may sound simple but, if you DO it daily, you will improve your life and experience more happiness and joy.

Hoh Kim, CMCT®

Founder & Head Coach, THE LAB h