Week #3 – Accountability - Rise and Write with Grace & James

“Check-ins, check-outs, check-boxes…whatever it takes!” (photo: Grace Church)

Week #3 – Accountability

This past week for our third interview, James interviewed me! And while there were plenty of goofy laughs and interjections…we weren’t three minutes in and Jim dropped this bomb of a question on me regarding accountability:

Why is that important? Why does it matter to you?

I had been talking about how I’ve been using daily check-ins (AM and PM) with my writer’s group to help keep me accountable to the creative promises I make…not to them, but to myself.

The answer led me down a bit of a rabbit trail regarding the word “confidence.” Years ago, in post-9/11 New York when everything felt shaken, I found myself wondering if confidence was something you were born with or if it was something that could be developed. An Army Ranger friend assured me I could build it…that it mean to “trust yourself” (and in his case, his training).

Sure enough…I looked it up, and the etymology spelled it out:

“com” (with) – “fidere” (trust).

In short, self-confidence is simply trusting yourself.

Simple…but not easy. Because as I said in the interview, as a writer, there are a thousand reasons to let ourselves off the hook…and usually only one or two reasons to keep those promises to ourselves.

And since it’s really easy to cheat when no one is looking…it’s great to surround ourselves with good friends who hold our feet to the fire and keep us accountable.

In addition to accountability, we talked about:

Being a slow waker-upper (and why I do check social media first thing in the morning).
How we set deadlines (and why we don’t always agree on this).
What I keep in my “toolbox” for when I get stuck creatively.
Paying attention to natural energy cycles and how they match different creative/collaborating tasks during the day.
How I use housecleaning to help me shift gears.
And why I think it’s important for collaborating partners to have their own things going on.

What about you?

We would love to talk with you about your experiences with creating, collaborating, and keeping fun company for the journey! Join us in our private Facebook group where we break these questions down each week, share tools and techniques, and hold each other accountable to the work we have been called to create.

Because we know it’s hard…we want to talk about how!

Tune in to our Facebook page tomorrow when we get to talk to one of our most favorite creators and friends…Rob Nicholson!

Until then, set your alarm for whatever time YOU feel most creative and productive, and then…

Rise and Write!
Grace