quick formula for accountability

I'm sure you know the power of being accountable, right?

I've done enough soul searching and self-discovery to recognize that I'm externally motivated and externally validated. That means needing other people to get jazzed and to confirm straight thinking. When you're built like that, the best way to kick-start yourself is to make sure you're connected to other folks.

So, here's the formula, then a little explanation:

==> Far + Near + Past + Feeling = Action <==

This is a tried and true formula and has been used by myself and many others to get all sorts of things done that wouldn't have happened otherwise.

In a business context, my friend and some time business partner, Donna Fox has used this with spectacular results -- for herself and for her mentees. She suggests a daily meeting for a few minutes with these components. She has a post at DonnaLFox.com/blog/?p=43 with the details of how she uses this formula.

In a productivity context, my friend and fellow NLP Trainer, Stever Robbins has guided many groups through an hourly-checkin-for-a-day version of this same formula in what he calls Action Days.

The same components are there to some degree in both of these protocols: far, past, near, feeling -- and they both generate more action than not employing these components.

Here's the breakdown on what each piece is and how it helps:

* Far -- this is a goal that is several accountability time-steps into the future. If you're meeting daily, this would be out on the week-month scale. If you're meeting hourly, it would be on the today-tomorrow scale. Declaring this piece give you a direction to focus your efforts and a "big chunk" to check against between accountability meetings. When I say I'm releasing a product on Monday, it is really easy to check against the "product release" direction and say yea-or-nay on whether my current action is adding to my movement in that direction. (And catching myself spin-locking on facebook-twitter-forums instead of writing the sales copy is totally *not* the right direction! )

* Past -- this is reporting on what has happened in the time since the last accountability meeting. Even a quick "got X and Y done, but not Z" is a valid review of the past. The mere fact that we ask "what did I get done, or not done" makes us track our results and notice what is/isn't happening. It's amazing how that small amount of tracking can put you back on track almost immediately.

* Near -- this is planning what you're going to do before the next accountability meeting. Again, just a quick "I'm going to do A, B, and hopefully C" jump starts actions. This is similar to the Far in that it sets direction, just at a more detailed level. The main difference between Far and Near is that the Far sets a more strategic or high-level direction and Near sets a more tactical or on-the-ground direction.

* Feeling -- this is where you take a moment to notice how you feel about the other components. Are you still going after the same Far and does it still have the same feelings around it? How do you feel about what you did/didn't do in the Past time frame? How excited are you by the Near actions? How will it feel to hit those Near/Far goals and be able to report that as being in the Past? (If you need explanation on how this one works, let me know. It should be pretty obvious for those it will help, and moot for those that it won't!)

So, there you go. A "formula" for getting more done with a little accountability.

==> Far + Near + Past + Feeling = Action! <==

How have you noticed these pieces in play when you've successfully used accountability to drive your own actions towards those goals that are most important to you?