Power of Accountability

For those of you out there with new year's resolutions and want to keep them, I learned the secret. Tell people. I thought I could make a goal and keep it a secret. Then, if I actually achieve-then I'll tell. But there is power when you share your dreams and goals for the future. I never planned on telling anyone that I wanted to do a triathlon. What if I never did? Then I'd hear it from my dad.
But as stories go, word spreads fast and now it seems everyone knows that I wanted to achieve such a huge goal. Just the fact that people ask how I'm doing with my goal spurs me on. Its the same with my Bible reading. I could easily forget and get busy with less important things, but I know that Russ will ask me how I'm doing on my reading. I don't want to say, I didn't do it. Nor do I want to miss out on our awesome conversations about a passage that we both read.
So I realized this could work with any area of my life that I need help with. Just tell people. That type of accountability will motivate you more than you know. Everyone around you automatically keeps you accountable and you have more of a chance of actually achieving your goal. Its a risk to say your going to do something and don't do it. But even if I achieve one of the many goals and plans that God has for my life, its more than achieving none at all.