Put Your Money Where Your Accountability Is

Accountability: anything or anyone that helps you gain mental leverage to achieve the results you desire. —The Accountability Stop

“We should get together!” My old high school friend said.

”Yes, definitely!” I said.

We parted ways. And I breathed a sigh of relief. No definite plans were made.

Have you been there? Relieved—not because you wouldn’t enjoy catching up with someone—but because you just don’t want the hassle that comes with making a commitment.

Indefinite Planning

We do a similar thing with our goals though, don’t we?

• “I want to go to Istanbul.”
• “I’d love to record an album.”
• “It would be cool to have a booth in that art fair.”
• “I really should get in shape.” *

We make wish statements like these to friends. The words are wishy-washy—with no definite plans. The dreams float out in a future that never becomes reality. These daydreams can make us happy, in a way, distracting us from our daily grind.

The wishes come with equally hazy forms of resistance that pop up when we consider making our plans more concrete.

• “Traveling is a hassle, how would I navigate a foreign country?”
• “I never have time.”
• “I don’t know how much it will cost.”
• “I might start and fail.”

Money Talks

So how do we overcome the excuses and just do it? One option: commit our money and we’ll commit ourselves.

Buy a plane ticket to Istanbul. Throw a date out in the future, decide on a week to go and make it work. Nothing commits us to taking a break like the prospect of losing money if we don’t.

Hire musicians and a recording studio to record the album. We’ll have to set a date and think about how much time we need to finish writing, if we need to.

Sign up for an art fair booth and pay the entry fee. We’ll have plenty of motivation to complete more of our art to exhibit and sell at the fair.

Pay the entry fee for a marathon. Even if we don’t train to achieve our best time, we’ll have one day scheduled to exercise outside with a lot of other people!

I’m using this accountability method myself right now. I’ve wanted to make a return trip to Paris since 2020. Last week I bought plane tickets! I picked a week later this year and paid the money. I booked a hotel room after that. The rest I have to figure out, because there’s no backing out now!

Do you have a dream that you can push into reality with some money? Put some skin in the game and get started!

What’s Your Account?

Have you made a commitment with your wallet? How did it work out? 

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*Personally, I’m tired of the “stop should-ing” narrative. Some things in life “should” be done. If we want them to be a priority above others (health is an excellent example), then “should” is a perfectly fine word to use. The whole point of this blog is to help us gain the leverage to actually do the things we say we should. If you want a free pass to give up on your goals, plenty of other blogs are handing those out.