We all know that it’s important to set goals and to follow through on those goals. That’s the part where we usually fall short. We make big plans and then the follow through starts out strong and fades out, or sometimes the follow through never gets started. How do you hold yourself accountable?
Studies show that the more people we tell about our goals, the more likely we are to do them even if it’s out of obligation. I post goals onto Facebook or here on the blog then I come back and post an update on whether it was done. If there’s silence on my part, everyone knows why. It’s also nice to get encouragement on things too or to hear that someone else is struggling with the same thing. We’re more alike than we know most times.
The trick is to use the accountability methods that we have. This is especially important on harder goals with more of a chance of backing out. This week I forced myself to use my uber-accountability method. I made a promise to The Kid. I only do that on things that I know I will not back out on. It takes a force of nature or her changing the plans from that kind of promise. So I promised her I would take her rock climbing today.
Rock climbing up a wall, high into the air… with my terror of heights. Hence the usage of the uber-accountability method in addition to the Facebook promise. I wanted to make sure that I didn’t back down from this challenge. We arrived at the special rock climbing gym mid-afternoon and I even had a half price coupon that I remembered to use. Our package deal got us a harness, chalk, shoes, and all day climbing.
I squeezed myself into the harness and checked and double checked the tightness of it. Interestingly enough, I was the only one who cared enough to check my harness. I guess they assume that anyone knows how to do that? Afterwards we were given the run down of how to use the auto-belays where you didn’t need a person on the ground end of the rope, and instructions for the human belays.
I made The Kid go first up the “easy” wall so I could observe her technique. I’ll point out that she’s been rock climbing several times with our old gym and with school. She went up like a monkey and made it look easy. I started up and quickly realized that I’m flexible in that I can lift my legs and arms high up into weird positions, however I’m NOT flexible in flattening myself out against a wall. Is this something that I really need to work on? Not sure I’ll use it in life. 😉
As I went up the wall, I had a moment of sweaty panic where I wanted to just stay where I was and cry…
It’s hard to cry while in an awkward position on the wall. I had visions of being paralyzed with fear and wondered if they would try to talk me down from the ground or send someone up to rescue me. Either option would have been humiliating, so I managed to go on with the climb. I made it about three quarters up each time, but it was my skill that prevented me from making it to the top.
Rock climbing is physically hard on your hands and feet. It hurts! One thing I never could bring myself to do was just let go of the wall and glide back down on the belay. They said just let go and lean back. I saw people doing it. I’m sure it was safe. I just couldn’t. I tried. I climbed up and I climbed down. I called it building more skills. 😉
I held the rope for The Kid’s many climbs and she used the auto-belays a lot, and we had a fun afternoon. It was definitely not one of my favorite challenges but I liked the chance to try something new. They have 2 for 1 nights and I have another coupon so we may go again. It was definitely a good workout if you’re looking for an activity that’s a workout but doesn’t feel like one. Let me point out the awesomeness of my calf muscles in the pics. It definitely works the calves.
The accountability method definitely works if you choose to use it. What works for you to make sure you follow through on something? Do you have a surefire method? What are you planning to do this week?
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