An accountablility group or partner can do multiple things for you. One, just like the name says, he or she can keep you accountable for the things that you have on your “To Do” list. If you say, “This is my plan, this is where I want to be in two months. Here are my short-term and long-term goals,” an accountability group can check in on you and keep you honest for your goals and dreams.

Accountability partners can also motivate you, and in turn, you can motivate them.Think of it this way: If I’m taking math and having difficulties with the subject, the most important thing for me to do is to not only get help from the teacher (my mentor), but also build a study group in the class. A great strategy would be to get the smartest people in the class, set up a study group, and meet and motivate each other to help each other out.

Let’s say you have a dream or goal that you want to share with other people in your group. They may not share that exact dream, but maybe there is a common thread running amongst you. You’re both looking to manifest something in your lives. One person might not be able to help you directly, but they might know someone who can.

You might encounter this in your everyday life regularly. Just the other day, for example, I happened to be at the shooting range. The gentleman behind the counter complimented me on my shooting, and asked where I had learned to shoot. I thanked him and explained about my experience in the military. He asked me what I currently did for a living. You see, he happened to know someone who owned a security company who was looking for consultants. He passed along the number and connecedt me to somebody, and we both expanded our networks. Each of us opened ourselves up to new opportunities or were acting on behalf of an accountability partners to help them get closer to reaching their life’s goals.

Inspired by the fresh start of the new year, many people have asked me to give them some direction on where to focus their self-development. It’s great that you want to start taking steps toward reaching your dreams, but at times, this can be overwhelming. Here are a few places you can start:

Awareness

If you want to focus on one specific area for self-development, let it be awareness. This is the foundation block upon which to build your improved life. Nothing will change around you if you can’t gain control of what’s inside your head — everything else revolves around that concept. If you’re unaware of your thoughts, and your thoughts are overwhelmingly self-defeating, you’ll project that self-defeat out into the world. When your life is going in the wrong direction, you’ll get upset with yourself, and repeat the same cycle again. Start by simply paying attention to your inner chatter. What kind of words are you using when you are thinking to yourself? Be an active listener to your inner monologue. Creating a higher level of awareness is a fundamental thing you can work on in order to improve yourself.

Procrastination

Procrastination happens to the best of us — in fact, it happens to all of us. One of the biggest enemies of procrastination is a daily routine. Structuring and prioritizing your day really helps you complete the tasks you have in front of you. Another way to beat procrastination is to have a partner — whether it be a life coach, spouse, or friend — who can keep you accountable on your to-do list for the week. This will give you the support and encouragement you need to complete whatever is on your plate. Remember, in order for you to develop yourself, you have to allow yourself to get the things done that you need to do to reach your goals.

Visualizations

Once you come into a sense of awareness, take it a step further with visualizations: See yourself already doing the things you want to do. Visualizations are a powerful force — they help condition your brain to start manifesting the picture you are painting in your mind.

Affirmations

If you want to improve yourself, you don’t want to have negative thoughts. After you become aware, you can start to filter the negative thoughts out of your consciousness and start bringing in positive affirmations. Start with phrases like, “I am,” and “I can.” Affirmations and visualizations go hand in hand by supplying your mind with both the “video” and “audio” of your intentions.

I consider myself blessed to come into contact with individuals who are on their own individual paths to turn dreams into realities. I know so many people who have gone on to do amazing things. Each success story becomes an uplifting reminder of what can happen if we set our intentions with the Universe. I’d like to talk about someone who has been particularly successful on his journey — my friend, Jay.

Jay had made a career of selling mufflers — something he had been doing for a very long time. However, Jay always knew that he was meant to do something more. He felt he could accomplish something “bigger” for his life: he wanted to create his own company. Realizing his passion for marketing (especially the online sector), Jay set out as an entrepreneur.

However, Jay was not alone in his vision — he had a support group in the form of a friend who always wanted to do the same thing. As the two began to build their business together, they held each other accountable. With the same end goal in mind, they were able to motivate and encourage each other through the trials and tribulations of starting a company.

Jay now owns one of the best marketing companies in the United States. He went from selling mufflers to living his dreams.

With a success story like this, the common reaction is, “He made something out of nothing!” While it certainly seems that is so, “something” is actually never made out of “nothing.” Jay’s inherent passions and goals were always “there,” in some form. They just weren’t materialized. Through consistent self-development, Jay was able to pinpoint his vision, and then surround himself with people who shared that vision.

The Law of Attraction does not work like a microwave. You can’t just put the idea out and wait a little while for everything to come out just as you envisioned it. It’s a process, and you need to be constantly plugged into that process. Some people do this unconsciously and act on autopilot, attracting the right people to them. Others need to really work at improving their level of awareness, and actively seek out like-minded people.

Obviously, it’s not easy to go from selling mufflers to owning your own multi-million dollar company, but the right combination of self-development, dedication, and consistency made Jay’s path run a little smoother.

Every year, as the New Year approaches, we are bombarded with messages pressuring us to pick a resolution for the next twelve months. For some reason or another, we have been conditioned to think of January 1st as this clean slate upon which to write our biggest intentions.

Whether it’s losing weight, quitting smoking, or getting out of debt, we somehow think that when the clock strikes midnight, we’ll magically know how to get these areas of our life under control. As a life coach, I’m often approached by people trying to define their own New Year’s resolutions. Here’s my advice: I think your resolution should be to not have a resolution.

Here’s why:

Every day should be a resolution. Every day you wake up, you should have a desire to make something of your life. January 1 is just a day — it doesn’t mean that it’s some magical date when you start working toward your dream. I’m skeptical of New Year’s resolutions because of what normally happens to people who declare them: They don’t finish what they start. What happens then? Do you wait until next January?

People make the same resolutions over and over because they are not seeing every day as an opportunity to make something happen. Awaken your awareness and ask yourself, what areas of my life feel incomplete? Try to think back to a time when you may have been discouraged because you let negative thoughts manifest themselves into your daily life. These thoughts tell us we are not good enough, that we cannot accomplish our goals — and we believe them. What are some ways you can transform those thoughts into positive affirmations the next time they enter your mind?

This awareness can happen on January 1st, or January 2nd, or March 30th, or August 15th. My point is, live in the now. I don’t believe in “next January,” or “last January,” for that matter. Last January is over. New Year’s Day is over. Be present, and realize it’s never too late. YOU decide when your New Year’s Day should be!