The season has changed. It is the beginning of my favourite season of the year. Some call it Autumn and some call it Fall.

When Fall comes around, for me it is a reminder that the year is coming to a close in a few months. It is a time where I look back at the goals that I had set for the year and see how far I have come and to gauge what I still need to accomplish.

I noticed on my list of things that I had planned on doing this year something that I have not kept up with. Doing something new or stepping outside of my comfort zone daily. Ooops.

What is it about some things that we say we are going to do but then don't do them? I remember being so excited about this. Imagining myself doing all these fun and exciting things that I was fearful of and then breaking through and feeling that sense of accomplishment.

So what happened? Why didn't I follow through? I was so sure I would.

It is easy to begin something new but it is the follow through that is difficult. We have all been there. We get that new idea, decide to lose weight, get more fit, decide to take a class that we have always wanted to, decide to start dating...etc. And then somewhere along the way we don't actually do it. At least, that has been my experience so far.

I decided to sit down and look at the entire list, and while I did that I noticed something: All of the things that I had either finished or in the process of finishing had all been the ones that I had talked about to others. The ones that I was being held accountable for.

However, the ones on the list that I had kept to myself and did not share with anyone? Those were the ones that I had no follow through. Hmmm. So what does that mean for me? I think that it is easier to put things off till another time if we don't have someone holding us accountable for what we have claimed to do.

From my experience it seems that if you really want to set a goal and accomplish it the key to making it happen is to tell someone about it. Have an accountability partner. That way there is someone holding you to what you have set out to do. It's like when someone decides they are going to start working out: If they get a workout partner to meet them at the gym there is more of a chance they will make it there because there is someone waiting for them.

(It sounds so simple, right? So why don't we do it more often, why don't we involve others in our goal setting more actively? But I think that's a topic for a future post.)

So now that I have ousted myself as not having kept up with my goal of pushing myself outside of my comfort zone daily, I guess I have to start that daily practice. And hopefully by my sharing this goal with you, you can help hold me accountable to grow and become the best me along the way.