The journey of learning to code and becoming a proficient developer is not easy and requires lots of work, effort and determination.
Depending on how you approach this journey you may be met with a different set of challenges. However, there is one factor I believe will greatly help anyone at any stage of a journey to grow their skills: Accountability.
Accountability is by definition, an acceptance of responsibility for the actions you take. Having a willingness to be responsible for what you do can be used to effectively keep yourself on track with any commitments you make.
Having accountability as a developer placing effort to grow your skills means having someone outside yourself keeping track of your growth and progress in your goals. Having an external presence to keep you on track is a simple but effective way to ensure you remain true to your long term goals.
For those on a learning journey, this means seeking methods that will allow others to hold you responsible for any learning and growth goals you’ve set for yourself.
Without any accountability, we may lose those essential psychological triggers that keeps us going when pursuing any major endeavours.
Whether you’re working on your skills through formal education, through online courses or are self-taught, having accountability will only boost your ability to achieve more.
Let’s go through 3 powerful reasons why something as simple as accountability can be what gives you that boost you need to successfully reach your goals.
1. Accountability Creates Motivation
Motivation is the desire to act in service of a goal. It’s the crucial element in setting and attaining our objectives. – psychologytoday.com
We each get motivation from different sources as we all have our reasons for wanting to do something. It can be difficult to ‘find’ motivation if you don’t feel it but motivation is also something we can actively work on.
Accountability is one method we can use to find some motivation.
Accountability will change your perspective in how you approach things. The awareness it’s not just you who knows of your plans will increase the likelihood that you remain on track with your goals.
Related: How to quickly recover when you have no motivation to code
Something as simple as being part of a community that shares wins and achievements can act as a boost to your motivation.
Whether you’re learning to code or growing your existing skills, join a community that keeps you accountable by providing opportunities for you to commit to certain tasks, for example, participating in 100 days of code challenges.
However, it’s important to know that while external motivation can help us we also need our own internal motivation. Being self-driven is an essential characteristic for developers and is crucial when we are faced with our individual challenges.
Having a community or support system to keep you accountable should only act as a boost to your existing internal motivation.
2. Accountability Ensures Action
Accountability ensures action by creating a sense of obligation within the circle keeping you accountable.
For example, you’re part of an accountability group and each member in the group has declared their individual goals and targets. As each member tells the team of their positive progress it’s likely to act as a motivation to other members. When you know someone in the group has completed their task, it’s likely to make you more determined to complete your part.
The competitive nature of humans may have something to do with this.
This study from ScienceDaily shows states competition can act as a booster in your ability to achieve a task. Competition influences how we approach any task and increases how likely you are to take more seriously and with more urgency.
It’s all too easy to brush it off when things don’t go according to plan if you’re the only one aware of your shortcomings. In contrast, having that external accountability creates healthy competition which can be effectively used to make sure you get things done.
3. Accountability Develops Consistency
You’ve likely come across the phrase ‘consistency is key’ but what are some ways we can create a habit of consistency?
One solid way I believe consistency can be achieved is of course, through accountability.
When working on a skill consistency is needed to develop a habit of practice. As simple as it may sound, many of us lack the ability to keep on track with our commitments to practice.
This is where accountability comes in. Having at least one other person to check in on how consistent you’ve been with your goals is an effective way to ensure you’re sticking to those commitments.
ACCOUNTABILITY -> CONSISTENCY -> KEY TO SUCCESS
For example, if you’re learning a programming language this can mean committing to completing a set of coding challenges using that language.
You can say, “Every 3 days I will complete a new coding challenge”. Tell this to someone or a group who will hold you accountable towards this. You’ll be amazed at how quickly you’ll grow by committing to consistent practice while having others holding you accountable!
Just make sure you’re being open to the people keeping you accountable and you’re specific about the goals you want to achieve.
Conclusion
Seeking accountability in your journey to grow your programming skills can be hugely impactful at ensuring you achieve your goals.
Having at least one other person who can check in and keep you responsible for the progress you make will only increase your chances of succeeding at what you’ve set out to achieve.
Accountability is a core element of our inspirezone developer community. We use it as a tool to keep members active in their coding practice and to ensure they’re on track with their personal goals.
Consider joining our community if you’re a developer seeking methods to stay motivated and accountable in accelerating your coding skills!
See other articles you may be interested in below: