How to find an accountability buddy

Every day, when I check Facebook, there is an ad on the side of the screen that promises: "a crazy trick" for sit-ups, pack muscle or lose fat, and that "I will not believe it!" I could see these ads too, and hopefully you are as skeptical as I am. But I started thinking about it and there is a crazy trick to achieve any goal of health and fitness. It's simple. It is easy. Works. And it's free. All those who are successful trust him, but nobody mentions it in the magazines, because the industry does not want you to know how big this secret is ...

It's having an accountability buddy!

You know and I know that change happens in dedicated communities. AA, the Marine Corps, reading clubs, and gym mates are examples of people coming together to support and take responsibility for a new, higher standard. It's FREE and it works. In fact, it also works in our community: MyFitnessPal members who share their meal diary with friends in the app lose twice as much weight as users who do not share.

I stopped training people one by one a year ago to create small, dedicated communities that hold each other accountable and share the daily struggle that change involves when change is difficult. And my success has skyrocketed! I want you to find people to share that fight with you! These are my tips for finding a responsible account.

1. Find the Arena. You are not the only one who struggles to get out and make difficult decisions. There are others like you. People in the MyFitnessPal forums, your friends who are tired of the endless yo-yo diet, can find communities with people "whose face is marred by dust, sweat and blood, who strives valiantly who is wrong, who falls short again and again, because there is no effort without error and deficiency, but who really strives to do the works, "to quote Teddy Roosevelt.

2. Drop the perfect Because it does not exist. I'm going to get this out of the way now, you're not going to be perfect. You are going to fight. "When we spend our lives waiting until we are perfect or bulletproof before entering the arena ... we waste our precious time, perfect and bulletproof are seductive, but they do not exist in human experience," says Brené Brown.

3. Be open Being responsible and ready to change means being open. It means being open to eating new foods, trying new activities and working hard to do something amazing in full view of the public. But that's the only way that change happens. So be open to new friends. New ways of thinking New ways of looking at yourself, your body and your choices. "Avoiding danger is no safer in the long term than open exposure, life is a daring adventure or nothing," says Helen Keller.

4. Prepare for the adventure Risky, brave, bold and new, the journey you will undertake with your Accountabilibuddies will not be comfortable, but it will be well traveled. Millions of people each year opt to change their health and lifestyle choices, and there are 65 million of them here at MyFitnessPal. "We do not even have to risk the adventure alone because the heroes of all times have preceded us ... and where we thought we would be alone, we will be with the whole world," says Joseph Campbell.

5. Offer to be responsible for another person The most terrifying part of asking for help, for most people, is the fear of being vulnerable or seeming needy. Then, instead of asking for help, offer it. You do not have to be a genius or a professional to be useful. You just have to be a good person going through the same thing as another person. "Docendo discitur [One learns by teaching]," says Seneca the Younger.

You have probably noticed that most of the suggestions I have made to find your Accountabilibuddies are not external, but internal. That's because I noticed that most of the friction in finding people to help us take responsibility does not come from other people. Most people are more than happy to help, and we know where to find other people who share our struggles (hint: many of them have downloaded this application and will comment on this post ... scroll down!). A lot of what prevents us from finding the help we need is that we simply never ask.