How to increase your motivation in 2 minutes per day

How to increase your motivation in 2 minutes per dayHow to increase your motivation in 2 minutes per dayWhen most people think ofaccountability partners,they cringe.It feels like a lot of work. It feels hard, but its leid. Its essential to making extreme progress in your life.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreIts also very easy. Something you can do in less than 2 minutes per day.In this short article, Im going to explain what makes a great accountability partnership.Im then going to break down a very simple way you can do daily accountability with your partner in a way that is motivating but not overwhelming.Stoked?Lets start.Obstacle 1 Looking for the WrongThingThe 1 mistake people make that stops them from starting an accountability partner is thinking that they need to find someone with similar interests or goals as them.That is totally bogus.Its actually better to have someon e who isnt doing the same things you are. The purpose of accountability isnt shared interest, butshared accountability.It seriously doesnt matter what your accountability partner is trying to accomplish. It doesnt matter if youve never met them in person.The only thing that matters is finding someone who will hold you accountable.Find someone with the same level of ambition and desired accountability as you.Thats it.Obstacle 2 Losing Momentum andQuittingOnce you find someone who wants the same level of accountability as you, then you need a simple and fast system.Daily accountability is the best way to form a habit and rhythm with your partner.If you try to do weekly, youll likely lose track or forget.You dont want to lose momentum.Aside from getting obsessed with finding the right partner, the second biggest mistake is losing momentum before you even start.Daily accountability is essential.Its how you get into a rhythm and stay on track. Thats the purpose of accountability. Its not about friendship. Its not about kinship. Its not about fun. Accountability is about getting results in your life.Do you want results? Or are you just looking for a friend?Accountability partners will become some of your best friends, but only because you are pushing each other forward.The purpose of the relationship isnt to be friends.Its actually almost better if you choose someone who isnt already your friend. The sole purpose of the relationship should be accountability.Thats it.Obstacle 3 Trying to Do TooMuchIn the book,Atomic Habits, James Clear wisely shares a principle he callsthe art of showing up.He tells the story of a man who wanted to establish a habit of going to the gym every day. So he spent the first six weeks limiting himself to only five minutes in the gym.Hed go to the gym every day for five minutes,and then force himself to leaveWhy wouldnt he just stay if he was already there?Because he wanted to establish the habit of just showing up.As Clear states,You cannot optimize what you dont have.People focus too much on the end-game, rather than starting. Most of the friction to success is getting yourself going.So, rather than being overly ambitiousyour accountability partnership needs to be extremely low friction and easy.It shouldnt take more than two minutes per day.Heres how it works.2-Minute Daily AccountabilityEvery morning, shoot your accountability partner a text (or email if thats preferred), stating your three goals for the day.At the end of the day, you report how you did. In addition to reporting on your big 3, you should also list the three things youll do the next day.Then the next morning, you re-list the same things you did the night before.The reason you want to report your results for the day and list the three things youll do the next day is that it removes decision-making the next morning.These two texts messages should take you less than two minutes to type out per day.Heres what mine looks like with my accountability partn er. As youll see, my partners contact is even named in my phone DAILY ACCOUNTABILITYFriction-Free Weekly Accountability (Optional)Once you master the art of showing up with these daily texts, you may add in a weekly element.Every week, on Sunday nights, in addition to reporting on our Daily 3, we also list our Big 3 for the following week.Heres what it looks likeFriction-Free Monthly Accountability (Optional)In addition to daily and weekly, you may share your monthly goals with each other. This is optional.Again, dont go overboard before you get started.It s powerful to share your monthly goals with each other, but dont bring these into your daily accountability.The purpose of this type of accountability is consistency and lack of friction.However, sharing big picture goals with each other can be powerful.Remember the accountability partnership is intended to serveyou, not you serve it.Heres a quick snapshot of a monthly goal tischsetConclusion Pulling It AllTogetherEvery day, my ac countability partner and I send two texts to each other.At the beginning of the day, we simply list our three objectives for the day.At the end of the day, we report how we did (e.g., 2/3) and then list our three objectives for the next day. We do this to eliminate decision fatigue and set ourselves up for a powerful morning routine.Once per week, we share our three objectives for the week, and at the end of the week, we report how we did on those objectives (e.g., 3/3).Every month, we share our monthly objectives. We also do a 3060-minute phone call to discuss how our month went.Thats it.In the past month, Ive overcome bad habits and emotional blocks that held me back for a really long time.The core purpose of accountability and reporting your progress is awareness. You cant improve what youre not actively aware of.This is the reason most people never become excellent at things. They dont track and report their progress,daily.If you want to become successful in any area of your lif e, you need to measure and report how youre doing daily.This will force you tofocuson it.What you focus on expands.Your greatest asset is your conscious awareness.When you become conscious of something and then aggressively seek improvement in that thing with tangible goals and reporting of progress, your momentum will skyrocket.This article first appeared on Medium.