Stay Accountable

I don't remember who I was talking to yesterday, but I was explaining to them why I've decided to not only blog about my weight loss process, but to update my weight for the whole world to see every single day. I told them, "It's all about being accountable."

It wasn't until I was explaining it out loud, again, to someone who was curious about what I was doing, and complimentary about the process that I realized that I am doing something that I learned in my second year of college. While taking a class called Persuasion in the Media, all of us were taught the importance of accountability.

Robert Smith, a long-time photographer and photography teacher at Bemidji State University told us as a class that "If you make a promise, make it out loud to five other people. It you set a goal, right it down and give it to someone else. Saying it out loud and writing it down for others to hold onto gives you a better chance of sticking to it."

This is my way of keeping myself accountable. Okay, okay, so I may have announced my goals and wrote them down for more than five people, but at least I have the entire blogging world keeping me on track! Bob taught this lesson not only once, but everyday in his class. If someone needed an extension or wanted to take a test on a different date, or needed a favor from Bob then all that person had to do was write it down or say it in front of witnesses. That was it. He would always end those discussions with "It's on you now," implying that now it wasn't only the student who had the favor's cross to bear, but the witnesses as well. And that is the point.

Being accountable isn't necessarily about feeling guilt toward not doing something, or sharing with other people, but it's bringing other individuals into the process. If I stop blogging, I guarantee several people will e-mail or call me to find out why and get me back on track. If I stop updating my weight, there are going to be questions. You are all a part of my process now, and I hope that by sharing through e-mail and blogger and twitter, that I'm part of your process too.