Why is Accountability So Important

There are many differences between life coaching and therapy. One of those differences is the issue of accountability. In life coaching the client is believed to have the answers to his or her problems are within them and not in the knowledge of the therapist.  A good life coach is effective by asking good questions which helps the client come up with his or her right answers.

A way to achieve accountability is through customized writing assignments that the client is responsible for. The client must follow through and complete assignments before next appointment.

As a Life Coach I work very hard to fit specific questions to my clients. If my questions are not good then the client will not come up with his or her right answers and the forward process will stall. In order to be on the same page as my clients, I sometimes have to give them an assignment to define a word. Defining words is important because everyone’s definitions varies in one form or another. So to help him or her progress, I feel I need to work off my client’s definition and not my definition.

Clients come up with some of his or her own great definitions with accurate perception. Here is an example of a great definition done on a word by one of my clients on a very important concept. I think this word we fight with and affects all of us in our daily lives. That word is accountability.

So what is accountability? Good question. I found this particular definition to be interesting with the way it was expressed and I hope will enlighten many more people.

The exact question to the client was:

“What does it mean to be accountable?”

The client answered the question simply in her own way.

“Accountability to me is living up to a standard moral code that’s ingrained in my subconscious mind from nature not nurture. It is the acknowledgement and assumption of responsibility for my actions. Accountability is a system of integrity that suppresses impulsiveness. It means that I am liable for my own destiny and culpable for the wrong decisions. Accountability and responsibility are guidelines for progress as I evolve spiritually, morally and mentally. It is doing what is right no matter how unfamiliar or hard it is to do.”

Want to be more accountable to yourself? Visit my website and take the 30 Day Life Changing Challenge