Many years ago a good friend of mine, Merrilee, and I were talking about some of our struggles to hit our personal and professional goals. We had no problem setting goals. We simply had problems hitting them.

Perhaps that sounds familiar to you.

Well, during our conversation, we decided to create some real accountability to our goals. We created an experiment whereby we would have to pay the other person $500 if we didn't hit our monthly goals. And, on top of that, we would have to meet at a café and hand the $500 to the other person in twenty-dollar bills, one-by-one, just to feel the pain a little more.

It was quite an experience.

At the end of the very first month, Merrilee missed her goals. We met at a café, and she handed over the 25 $20 bills. I definitely felt a little weird about taking her money, but a deal was a deal and she clearly needed some accountability to her goals.

Merrilee never missed her goals for the rest of our experiment.

For me, I hit my goals month after month. The $500 deterrent — plus my basic competitiveness — was working for me.

Until the ninth month. I simply got careless and messed up, so off I went to the café where Merrilee happily took my $500. Or, depending on how you look at it, she took her $500 back.

We decided at that point to terminate the experiment. Even though it was successful in helping us hit our goals, neither one of us liked the negative accountability. Frankly, we simply wanted to hit our goals because we said we would, not because we'd lose $500.

Just like me, I bet that you’ve wondered how to best hit your goals. Thankfully, I’ve found many online tools that help me stay motivated and track progress. One app, Stickk, is something that I've successfully used. I’ve found Stickk’s combination of group accountability and reminders to be super helpful. 

At Mission Met, Ricky (my business partner) and I use our software, Causey, to keep us on track with our team’s goals. We meet monthly and quarterly to review progress and take advantage of the email reminders that the software provides. Both the software and our mutual accountability help us hit our goals. It’s a great system. 

What do you do to help you hit your goals? Or your team’s goals? Reply to this post and let us know.