Page 5 - Booklet Social Health & Wellness

Finding the Right

Accountability Buddy

With the pandemic still ravaging on, limited social interactions make many people feel that
their support systems have turned to dust. Because of lockdowns and isolation, people
who used to be physically present in their daily lives may have fallen into rough times,
that the supportive friend role cannot be filled. This can cause many people to feel down,
alone, lost and unproductive, that projects fall through or performance at work dwindles.
But a friend is not always what we need, especially when it comes down to our sense of

accountability, which exists on a spectrum. Here are the different kinds of accountability
buddies you might need depending on your reason.

ACCOUNTABILITY FROM FRIENDS/LOVED ONES ACCOUNTABILITY FROM A THERAPIST OR COACH
Friends and loved ones know you best. They know your Therapists and coaches are trained professionals, and sometimes, you really need
strengths, your weaknesses, how to motivate you, and how to the firepower of their expertise to keep you on track. They can help you plan and make
pick you back up and dust you off when you hit a stumbling major, multi-part changes and can be a great checkpoint for smaller projects, too. With a
block. That makes them invaluable for big, long-term projects. therapist or coach, you can draw on years of training and professional experience to help
This kind of accountability is great because supporting each other you achieve your goals. Your therapist or coach is solely focused on helping you make the
through projects and lifestyle changes helps strengthen change you need to make. As a therapist or coach, they’re also used to encountering
already-existing bond. They also know your reasons for working problems and roadblocks that many other people don’t know how to address.
on projects, and they can help see things you might not notice on
your own that can affect how you approach it. ACCOUNTABILITY FROM STRANGERS
Strangers can be wonderfully kind and encouraging without needing a long-term
ACCOUNTABILITY FROM SUPPORT GROUP MEMBERS investment in you or your project. That’s great for short, quick bursts of work, or for projects
When you have a support group, you have a community of people that are in their infancy and just need you to focus on them without really involving others
with similar experiences and/or perspectives. These are great for quite yet. It’s effective because they can offer support and encouragement without any
when you’re working on a specialized project, like trying to write temptation to chat or help solve other problems. It’s also easy to sync up schedules and
a novel, or trying to overcome an addiction or eating disorder. provide real-time support in the short term, as short bursts of accountability are quick
The flat hierarchy of a support group makes it easier to share and simple.
and ask for support in difficult things. Also, shared experiences
and goals mean you can draw on each other’s’ experiences In the end, offering accountability for each other comes in many shapes and forms, and the
for strategies and advice, and it can be helpful to have a different kinds of accountability available might not always be a good fit for every possible
community who know you well but know you differently from need. Think about what you’re hoping to accomplish with your project, and then think about
how family/friends do. who is in the best position to offer the kind of accountability you need.