If you haven’t been able to stay on task find someone to help keep you accountable. It could be a friend, a paid coach, a mentor, a business or writing buddy, a business partner, an old teacher, a relative, or even your children.

When I wanted to lose ten pounds, I knew I wouldn’t be able to achieve that goal on my own. I explained why I needed to lose weight and what I needed to do to succeed. Then I asked my children to keep me accountable. My 9-year-old daughter now reads labels before we buy snacks, my son will question what I eat when we go out, and my husband cooks healthier meals.

When I wanted to take my writing career to next level, I found a writer’s group that shared their weekly goals and end-of-week praises. Telling a group of friends and strangers my intentions for week helps me focus more during week. After all, I don’t want to meet with them on Friday only to make excuse after excuse as to why I didn’t reach my goals.

And let’s face it, most of time we don’t reach our goals because we find one excuse after another to keep us from taking first step. And if by some miracle we make it past first step, we find a “reason” why we can’t take next step.