Hey Pythonista,

I want you to recall a time you were working on or learning something new and then think about whether you were successful in completing task or building the skill.

What was it that helped you get there?

Or, what was it that held you back?

In most cases you can boil the success or failure down to accountability.

It's the reason you can complete projects on time at work, but your projects at home can blow out and take a year or more. (Source: my home automation project)

When we don't have the social or financial pressure of accountability, we're far less likely to get the task done.

For example, Bob and I hold each other accountable for our Pybites tasks and we're often able to pull things off that seem impossible for the allotted time. The fear of showing up empty handed is enough to make us push and focus until it's done.

On the flip side, just last week, as there was no accountability, I failed to check in with our community with the June Goals update!

It took the vigilance of community member Fay to create the June reflection post and then actually tag me in it telling me I was nominated to share first! (Talk about mega accountability!).

Her actions held me accountable, and earlier today I logged in and updated all of my personal and business goals for everyone to see. It was a much-needed exercise I wouldn't have completed had I not been held accountable.

All of this is to say that accountability will help you achieve your goal.

Take a second this week to think about who your accountability partner is and how you're working with them to keep yourself accountable to your goals.

And if it's anything related to Python development, get into our community and let us know! 

I'm more than happy to keep you accountable!

Cheers,

Julian

(P.S.: I know I've shared the previous photo before, but it reminded me of how ingrained accountability is with Bob and myself. This was on my trip to Spain to see him, one day after landing in Madrid. Yes, we wanted to hang out and relax, but we had Pybites writing to do, so we held ourselves accountable to the goal, got the work done, then indulged a couple more beers!)