Importance of personal evaluation
There is little point in developing plans and looking at the strategies that are necessary to bring them about if we do not evaluate how effective they have been. These strategies mean that we are developing healthier behaviour patterns, healthier thinking and healthier relationships. It also means that we are increasing our ability to overcome limitations in our lives.
a. How well are we doing?
Many of us do not find easy to answer this question honestly. We can be too harsh on ourselves and therefore expect higher standards from ourselves than other people would. We can be too lax on ourselves and allow ourselves to get away with a lower standard than we would expect from others. This is where having a coach or mentor or even a friend to be accountable to can be very useful. They become a third party who can assess our progress.
Another way of assessing the situation is to keep a record of our progress. Some of the things we are trying to achieve are easier to measure and therefore record than others. For example, someone wanting to lose weight can weigh themselves and keep a record of how much weight they are losing. Other things are less tangible and therefore harder to measure. However in a situation like this keeping a journal or diary can be a useful way of recording the progress that is being made. Sometimes it can be quite shocking to see the difference in the way that we were thinking, months or years earlier.
b. Maintaining accountability
One of the reasons why people like slimming clubs is that there is a sense of common purpose but also a sense of being accountable to someone. The idea is that someone else is keeping a record of your progress and therefore providing encouragement. Of course, they do not suit everyone.
Maintaining accountability can mean taking action before trouble hits. This could be asking someone else to set the parental controls on your TV or computer so that you cannot alter them yourself and therefore watch the programs that you have decided are not helpful for you to watch. One of the features of the traditional twelve step process is that you have someone that you can turn to for support if you need it. There are dramas on TV where people, often men with an alcohol problem, fear that their resolve is about to break and contacts their sponsor or accountability partner.