Raise your hand if you struggle to make progress in your business? Maybe you have a never-ending to-do list, projects you never seem to get around to or you just can’t make decisions because you’re all up in your head all the time…
You’re not alone. But there is something you can do about it. Drum roll, please…
It’s called accountability. I know… it SEEMS really obvious, right? Like duh, we need to hold ourselves accountable. But we know… that’s so much easier said than done.
In today’s episode, I’m sharing all the ways I’ve proven to myself how important accountability is, why it’s important for you, and how you can find it!
With the end of one year comes the opportunity to start the new one fresh. Finally getting all those things organized, finally getting those systems in place, finally hiring that team member, making progress on your goals, finally investing in the education of yourself or your team, *insert that thing you’ve been trying to achieve here*
A couple of weeks ago I did a live in the eCommerce Badassery FB group with our favorite Facebook Ads strategist, Nicole Diedrich. In that live, we talked about planning for the New Year, running Facebook Ads, Google Ads and we also talked about accountability.
And I realized the most important message of that Facebook live was the accountability piece, so instead of running through all the things covered during that video, I want to focus on just that… Accountability.
Still, need help with planning and FB ads too? Don’t worry. Episode 62. How iOS14 Will Affect Your Facebook Ads & What to Do About It, Episode 64. How to Create Ads That Your Customers Will Click Lauren Schwartz of Loft325, and Episode 91. FB Ads for eCommerce after iOS14 with Nicole Diedrich will help you with that!
You can also head over to the eCommerce Badassery Facebook Group and watch the live video we did. It’s still there and available for replay! It was posted on December 2nd.
Prefer to listen to this episode? Click here
Accountability is obvious, but it’s not easy
Accountability. It’s one of those things that’s so obvious, right? Like duh, we need to hold ourselves accountable.
When we were in school, if we didn’t do our homework, we got in trouble. When you work for someone else, if you don’t show up to work, or you’re late, or you don’t do what’s expected, you get in trouble or fired.
Think of your own team and what you expect from them.
When you’re a CEO, you’re accountable to your staff. Making sure you pay them on time, that there actually is money to pay them… if you’re a good CEO, that is.
You’re accountable to your customers. When they place an order, you will ship it out to make sure they receive the item they paid you for.
Accountability is just built into our lives and our business. It’s so expected in human culture and society we don’t even think about it. It’s kind of like breathing. You don’t have to remind yourself to breathe… you just do. Unless you’re Tom Hanks in Sleepless in Seattle.
What about the accountability to ourselves, to our goals, to the vision for our business, to our to-do list?
It’s a lot like how we treat our self-care… It’s usually the first thing to go.
A few weeks ago I spent a good amount of time cleaning up all my digital files, reorganizing things, moving some things to Dropbox from Google Drive, deleting screenshots and random shit on my desktop.
When I was cleaning up my Google Drive specifically, I came across some documents. Some didn’t have titles, and some were big brain dumps of things I wanted to do, courses I wanted to create, systems I wanted to finish setting up, etc.
And there were multiple documents with the same exact info on them. Seriously. I had brain dumped the SAME information multiple times.
When I started looking through them, I realized there were still soooo many things on there that I hadn’t gotten to at all, or things I had started but didn’t finish. Or were still in progress.
I have a never ending to do list of shit and if left to my own devices, I may never get it done. Because I don’t have anyone to answer to… but myself.
Sure, there are parts of my business that I have no problem getting done. Like the podcast where I’m accountable to you. Or client work, which I’m being paid for and am accountable to that client.
But if it’s for me, or my business in general and doesn’t really affect anyone else but me… who knows how long it will take.
Even my new membership, The Lounge. I have been thinking about doing a membership for a long time. I had a few brain dump docs on that too. But once I brought Nicole into the fold and we met up in person last month in Vegas, we knocked out the program details in ONE day.
Or how about the subscription box I had back in the day? Did you know I had been planning to do that on my own for a long time? I spent months creating the branding, researching products to feature, hanging out in Facebook groups, learning all I could about the industry, researching and testing my technology options, building up an Instagram following.
And then I met my business partner, and we had our products curated and the cart open in about 30 days of going into business together. Granted, part of our ability to launch so quickly was all the leg work I had done ahead of time, but would I have done it without her… eh, not so sure.
You need to find someone to keep you motivated
Okay… so now that I’ve told you alllll the ways I don’t get shit done… what is the point of this fucking episode?
It’s that we all NEED accountability.
We need someone to answer to. We need someone to brainstorm with. We need someone to call us out when we don’t get shit done.
Now the question becomes, where do we find this person?
Nicole is lucky enough to have an operations manager who keeps her in line, and I’m lucky enough to have Nicole. Of course, at some point I need a true right hand inside my business… but I’m so grateful for Nicole in terms of high-level brainstorming and behind there when I need to vent or celebrate.
And you need that too.
Depending on your business, maybe you have an ops manager that you can lean more heavily on. Maybe you need a biz bestie, maybe you need to hire someone, maybe you need a mentor, maybe you need a group program, or a membership.
It’s really going to depend on your exact needs, where you struggle and what you’re currently focused on in your business.. But you need someone. Maybe many people. And if you don’t have someone in your circle right now that you can lean on, I encourage you to go out and find them.
Don’t be afraid to make the first move
I actually met Nicole because we were both in a random Facebook Group for online entrepreneurs. She posted a lot. I really liked her vibe, her storytelling, and of course it was a total bonus that she did Facebook Ads—something I didn’t really know how to execute.. And so I reached out to her.
That was probably two years ago or so and look at us now.
And I know, it’s scary to reach out to random people on the internet. Start off with some engagement first before you just randomly slide into their DMs… but don’t be afraid to make the connection and just say hey, I’d love to hop on a call and chat more about what you do. The worst thing they can say is no, I don’t have time for that and then you just move on.
But I promise you so many online entrepreneurs are just looking for more connection. For all you know, they’ve been wanting to reach out to you too, but have just been too scared.
Ultimately, you just never know what might come out of those connections you make, but you’ve got to put yourself out there in order to make them.
If you want help in this department, definitely check out The Lounge as accountability is going to be a HUGE part of the program.
Whether it’s in The Lounge or somewhere else, the main takeaway I want you to have today is that you need someone in your business life that can help keep you on the straight and narrow to reaching your goals.
Maybe you already have that someone, but you’re not leaning on them as much as you could. Or maybe you don’t and you need to make your first Q1 goal finding them. Wherever you’re at, do yourself a favor and make a commitment to go all in with whoever that is.
And that, my friends, is a wrap for 2021! Have a happy New Year and I’ll see you on the flipside.
Listen to the Episode
Episodes Mentioned
41. How to Set & Accomplish Goals Like a Badass
62. How iOS14 Will Affect Your Facebook Ads & What to Do About It
64. How to Create Ads That Your Customers Will Click Lauren Schwartz of Loft325
91. FB Ads for eCommerce after iOS14 with Nicole Diedrich
Links Mentioned
The Lounge by eCommerce Badassery: A Membership for eCommerce Business Owners
