Why is Accountability Important (Just Like a Best Friend) with Natalie Sisson

Goals don’t fail because you’re lazy; they fail because you’re alone with them. We sat down with Natalie, a veteran coach and community builder from New Zealand, to unpack why accountability works, how to make it feel supportive instead of pushy, and what happens when you choose partners who match your values and season of life. If you’ve ever swung between overstuffed weeks and quiet procrastination, this conversation gives you a humane system for steady progress.

We start by demystifying accountability and tackling the myths that it’s joyless or rigid. Natalie shares the numbers that change the game: writing a goal helps a little, telling someone boosts it to 65 percent, and showing up for regular check-ins pushes success to 95 percent. From there, we dig into motivation styles—why revenue isn’t always the right carrot, how service and impact can fuel deeper commitment, and how a thoughtful partner will adapt their approach to what actually moves you. You’ll learn to spot the “overwhelm spiral,” break work into realistic steps, and use weekly top threes to ship what matters.

We also get practical about finding the right people. Paid masterminds and memberships offer structure and peer alignment, while conferences and online communities spark organic matches. Fit matters: look for integrity, follow-through, and complementary strengths rather than identical personalities. Groups can outperform pairs by giving you a mix of strategist, challenger, and encourager—so you get the push you need on some days and the lift you need on others. We touch on the unique power of retreats to reset energy and sharpen plans, then introduce Natalie’s life audit to align health, relationships, and business goals so you’re building with real capacity, not fumes.

Ready to stop ghosting your goals? Tune in, choose a partner, and commit to a simple cadence. Want to take it to the next level?  Apply for a mastermind today!

Read more HERE

If you want deeper coaching, more transparency, and the episodes that actually help you make decisions faster in your business, then subscribe to Unhinged.

Transcript

Welcome And Episode Focus

Jenny 0:00

Welcome to Practice with Profit with me , Jenny Melrose. This podcast is for expert service based business owners who are ready to run their power or each week we'll have into how to transform what you already do. Supports programs, products, and platforms while building a business that supports your life, not the other way around. If you're ready to move beyond trading time for money and build profit with intention, you're in the right place. Think about your best friend for a moment, the one that won't ever let you quit on yourself, even when you start to doubt everything that you're doing. That's why accountability is so important. It's the person there that's going to keep you going and holding you accountable to what it is that you want to accomplish in your business. Hi, Natalie. Welcome to the podcast. How are you?

Natalie 0:58

I am so good and so excited to be here.

Jenny 1:01

Good. I am so excited to have this conversation about why accountability is important, just like a best friend. But before we actually jump into that, would you introduce yourself and your business to my audience?

Natalie 1:16

Yeah, I'd love to. So my name's Natalie Susan. I'm here on the other side of the world in New Zealand, beautiful New Zealand, Aotearoa. And I've actually been in business for 15 years. Um, literally started out blogging and interviewing women entrepreneurs on why they were succeeding. I had a tech company that I co-founded at the time, and I was always like, where are the other female founders? So my love kind of came from interviewing these women. What were they doing in business? How are they succeeding? How were they getting support? Where was their accountability? Um, and from there it grew into creating digital products and courses and webinars and all the things you teach about here on the podcast, um, into multi-six figure launches and writing books and speaking on stages. So it's been um a pretty epic journey, and I've been so fascinated to see the way in which the online space has changed, especially in the last five years. Kind of feel like it bit me in the butt a little bit. All those people I taught how to create courses and write their books and do all the stuff are now doing it, you know, even better, which is amazing, and so many people are. Um, but also along the way, I was coaching the entire time, and I absolutely love coaching and mentoring because there's something about connecting with your clients and really getting it one-on-one with them and helping them like leapfrog past as you talk about your mindset, you know, where you're stuck, where you're holding yourself back, and just having those moments of like strategic, aha, I get it, I can see the path now. So, yeah, that's been my journey. And I've recently had a beautiful child, got married, all the things I said I'd never do. I was a little bit strange like that, and it's totally, you know, transformed my world as it does. So I've just been in this beautiful phase of kind of rebuilding myself, it's been like a rebirth for me. What do I find important? What do I want to happen in my business? How do I want my business to fit into my lifestyle? And I've always been what I would call a freedomist. So I feel that you should be able to have a thriving business that fits within the amount of time you want to work and supports your ideal lifestyle. And that's ultimately what I teach people today, um, especially supporting women entrepreneurs.

What People Get Wrong About Accountability

Jenny 3:19

Excellent. All right, so let's kind of just jump right in. When you hear the word accountability, what do you think most people get wrong about what that word means?

Natalie 3:31

Yeah, I think they, I don't know personally, I think people hear, oh, that sounds like a massive amount of commitment, or maybe something you have to be super disciplined to do, or I don't know if I'm gonna be good with accountability, is what I just from all the years of hearing people sort of talk about what they think it is, and it makes me realize that maybe they haven't experienced in it in the best possible way. Um then you probably hear people going, Oh cool, accountability is that like you know, having a personal trainer on your back so you get fit and healthy. Um, and people can see how that would work, but they also think you know, maybe that's going to cost a lot of money or time commitment. What are they really gonna get out of it? And I think people do have a little bit of a am I up for this? Um, you know, what do I have to bring to the table? So I'm super happy to discuss all that today. But um personally for me, I just accountability is absolute game changer. Get a great accountability partner or a team or a group or a community, uh, and you can just, oh my gosh, you can just achieve things that you never would have thought and um really hold true to yourself and come through on things that maybe you never would have done by yourself.

Jenny 4:38

I totally agree. Now, why do you believe that it's so easy for entrepreneurs to get stuck when they're working alone?

Why Working Alone Stalls Progress

Natalie 4:47

Pretty much because of that, they're not beholden necessarily to anybody else. Like, I don't think we're designed to work just by ourselves. Don't get me wrong, I'm a solopreneur, like I have a small team, um, and I do predominantly work kind of by myself, but I am surrounded by community, by other entrepreneurs. Um, I create communities and memberships so that I can be part of something. And when you share the load with somebody else, like you're having a day like, oh my gosh, this just isn't working, or this failed, or uh, if you're not sharing that with somebody else, you can feel like it's all just you and it's in your world. Whereas the minute you are surrounded with other people, or even just a couple of others, and you can talk about your problems and share the load, it just makes things just like, oh, okay, other people are going through this, I'm not alone. And I'm I'm unsure why as entrepreneurs we get stuck in that. You know, I don't know what you think about this, Jenny, but why do we get stuck in our oh, this is just my problem, or I surely must be the only person experiencing this, or I'm just gonna tough this out and go through it. And we all almost know that when you chat it out with a friend or I don't know, you know, somebody who's going through what you're going through, you just have these aha moments and you get clarity so much more quickly and you feel supported and energized and you know, hopefully inspired to carry on.

Jenny 6:00

Yes, I would definitely agree. I think for myself, I have found that over the years, anytime that I feel like I am stuck or plateaued, joining somewhere where I can find those community members, whether it's a mastermind or it is a Facebook community, somewhere just to bounce ideas off of because it can be very lonely. We just really need that sense of community and being able to have that response back from it and to know that we're on the right path, right? I think that we end up dropping ourselves so often that when you hear that others are also struggling or others have found a way around that with a specific strategy, it can feel just kind of like you can do the things, you can move forward.

Natalie 6:45

And can I give a quick example on that? I mean, I'm part of mentorships as well. I have, um yeah, and you know, I think it's really important to have coaches, mentors be part of a mastermind. And I know you've done episodes on that. Love masterminds, but you know, even the mentorship that I'm part of, somebody posted about their membership the other day and the you know attrition rate and retention. And I just had this aha moment of like, oh yeah, like I know it seems really obvious, but people are coming and going in memberships quite often, even if they're long-term is. And I just had this moment of like, of course, just reading about other people's memberships and groups and how they're going just made me appreciate mine more and the longevity of it. But for some reason, sometimes you get you take things personally, like, oh, somebody's leaving versus this is just actually what people do, groups, right? You know, you join, you join gyms, you join community groups, and you at some point you're gonna leave. And I know that sounds so obvious to people listening, but it was just really refreshing to see people write about their actual stats and what was happening and go, oh yeah, that's just part and parcel of running a community, and how do we do it better? And yeah, it was just one of those moments where had I not seen that or been part of something, I would have just been probably stuck in my head.

Jenny 7:50

Yes, absolutely. So now, what would you say are some signs that someone thinks they're fine solo doing it, but actually could use some accountability.

The 95 Percent Commitment Advantage

Natalie 8:57

Yeah, well, I think as entrepreneurs, we have a tendency to either um overstretch ourselves and fail often, which I'm all for failing, especially if you learn and take the nuggets and do better the next time. Um, but we're either always trying to push, push, push, and we don't necessarily have like a good benchmark of what's possible, you know, like maybe in a week we're trying to chew too many things, launch too many things, create loads of stuff, and show up as a coach or a community builder or a service provider or whatever it may be. Or we do the opposite, which I think is do a lot of procrastinating and do the busy work that doesn't actually move us forward. And so we will be like, well, but I've done all my back-end systems and my ops, and you know, like I'm working on the stuff, but you're not actually progressing. So I think when you can get isolated as an entrepreneur, you can be working on the wrong things and not actually aspiring to be doing, be doing, having more. And that's where I honestly do think masterminds, coaches, and accountability comes in because people can just see things in a different way from you, or they can say, Hey, why are you working on that? Isn't this the thing that you said was important? So it's about kind of almost having a buddy right there with you, co-creating in many ways, like going, Hey, is this the best use of your time right now? Or are you hiding a little bit over here and not doing the work? Or are you do you actually just need to take some time out and come on a hike with me? So I think that's that's what I definitely see a lot of entrepreneurs doing is not necessarily taking the time to get clarity on what's important, sit back and go, is all this stuff that I'm working on the most important thing right now? And how do I feel? Like, what's my energy like? Um, yeah, just a whole lot of factors that you can't do in isolation. Yes.

Jenny 10:31

And I think too, one of the examples that I often use for it is when you feel as if there's too many plates spinning, and no you're gonna drop something, or you're forgetting specific things you're supposed to remember, pick up a child at a certain time, or where there's those types of things. And a client one time said to me, Well, that's the overwhelm spiral. And it was so funny because I immediately pictured like a little tornado, and that's what so many of us experience. That kind of just tornado of we go down this spiral of doubting ourselves more and more to the point where we start to question what it is that we're doing and why we're doing it. And that is usually when you really could use that accountability to push.

Supportive Vs Pressure Accountability

Natalie 11:19

Yeah, absolutely. And you know what? Can I just share a stat about accountability? And this is probably why I love it so much, is that we all know that if you have a plan or if you have a goal, you're 10% more likely to like actually make it happen. But if you tell somebody about a goal, whether publicly or personally to a friend, it's about 65% more likely for that goal to happen, which is a huge jump, right? But if you actually commit to showing up and have an accountability partner to help you achieve that, you're 95% more likely to get it done. And you know, I see this every week in my life pilot community. Um, people share their goals and what they're going after for the week, their top three, and we do it live on the call, and I will sometimes, you know, just share a little bit or question or how important is this or what's going to derail you, and then you'll see it. They'll come back the next week and they hit it because there they were on that call saying, Here's what I want to be able to do. And this is a cross life, by the way, not just in business. So I think that's another thing is you can have accountability in your life goals as much as in your business goals. Um, it just works because the minute it's not just about you and you've told somebody, you've got like a commitment with them. Like you don't want to let them down, you don't want to let yourself down. Whether you're and I know it sounds strange, whether you're using fear or shame to drive you, or this desire to make your friend or your mentor or your accountability sort of like proud of you, either way, it just works. Um, and it's lovely to have support, right? We're not meant to be doing this alone. Right.

Jenny 12:44

Yes. So, what does accountability look like when it's supportive instead of pressure-filled?

Natalie 12:52

Yeah, it's a great question. And I will say that you know, I'm more for the supportive, like cajoling, motivational aspect, but depending on the type of person you are, some people really respond well to a bit of that pressure. Like I said, I was gonna do this, there's money on the line. You know how people make bets? Like, I bet you can't run that marathon in September and you're like, okay, here's a thousand dollars that I can. That does have its place, but supportive accountability is really when somebody will say, Hey, this is the goal or the intention that you set. You know, how are you feeling about it? How can I support you this week? And have you given yourself some time to actually make it happen? Um, do you what do you need from me? Can I check in with you? How do you want me to check in? And sometimes it's also that person just saying, Hey, I think you might have bitten off quite a lot here. What about if we just break it down? Do you want me to like talk you through it, see if there's anything that might derail the plan? Um, or maybe there's a better thing for you to be working on. So sometimes it's actually about giving you more insights into how you work. And I especially find when you work with an accountability partner or a friend for quite a long time, they really get to know you. So they can call you on your, you know, they can call you on your BS and say, you know, about a month ago you said the same thing or you want to do the same thing, and here's what happened. So, how do we change that up this time? And that's what I think. It's like sometimes people will know you better than you, or they'll be able to call you on stuff that a little bit of your blind spot. Um, and that's why I love it.

Motivation Styles And Goal Design

Jenny 14:16

Yes. And I think too, it's helpful when the person knows what they're motivated by because I know that there's certain clients that I can push a little bit harder than others because they don't want to get yelled at, or there's those that want to get those to-dos kind of checked off. Um, there's some that are not motivated by money, and because of that, to them, increasing their revenue isn't a good goal to necessarily have. They need to be looking at something else, the impact that they're going to be having on their audience by putting out more content or a specific product that's going to answer a problem. So I think it's really important for that person to be able to also identify what is it that motivates them in their personal life and also, of course, in their business.

Natalie 15:05

Yeah, and sometimes you don't know that, right, until you have an accountability person and they try a little different tactic and you're like, oh, I didn't realize I was driven not by money, but by the accomplishment or the feeling, or as you said, um, you know, the service that I did there, or that's why often people love to volunteer, right? Because they don't realize how great that actually makes you feel when you're giving to others and doing things to others, and when you're making an impact in your community or with your clients, that can be the biggest motivator versus you know money accomplishment awards, etc. And for other people, it's the exact opposite. That's what they crave, and that's what lights them up, and that's what gives them kind of a measurable outcome to go for. So you're right, you intrinsically need to know what motivates you, and you can probably look back on your life and see where that's come through in different areas of your life and go, okay, how did I use that thing back then when I, you know, did that try-thorn or whatever? What was it that was important to me, and how can I apply that now, like in my business?

Jenny 16:03

Yeah. And where would you find some of the best places to be able to find an accountability partner or a group? Are there places that you recommend to create those relationships?

Finding Great Partners And Groups

Natalie 16:17

Yeah, um, I think there's so many different ways in which you can do it. Often, if you're going there's a couple, two ways. All right. One would be paying for a great mastermind or accountability group or you know, membership that suits your needs and allows you to learn and grow of where you're at right now and you need it. Other times it just happens quite naturally. You might meet somebody at a conference, an event, and you just jibe really well, and you're like, hey, would you like to be my accountability partner? Literally, it's a bit like a matchmaking service if you kind of get how they they talk and you like their vibe and you think you've got similar philosophies, but they might be a little bit more gung-ho than you, or a little bit more direct, or more supportive when you're more critical of yourself. And often it's just that ask and request, and then just to say, hey, it would just be meeting twice a month, or once a week, or even once a month, and we'll take 90 minutes and we'll go through our plans where we're at, talk about our feelings, our energy levels, what we want to get out of it. Um, a great accountability partner though is the one that's going to show up consistently with you. Be there on the end of WhatsApp or Signal or you know, a phone call or meet in person if you can. And I have people from around the world over the years that I've had as accountability partners. Often we've both been coaches or entrepreneurs, often even in the same industry, and uh you just share, you just share where you're at. It's it's really helpful. And as long as they can be consistently there with you and are quite good at following up and checking in, I think those are probably two of the most important things: follow up and check in. Did you do what you say you wanted to do? How can I support you?

Jenny 17:54

Do you find that the personalities of the people make a difference for the accountability? So if they have, let's say, different strengths based on Myers Brakes or the disc when you take to see what type of behaviors you have. Do you find that certain personalities match up better than others?

Natalie 18:12

Yeah, I love that you brought up, you know, profile testing because I must admit I haven't ever asked for an accountability partner straight off the bat. Are you a, you know, INTF or whatever? Um, but I'm I'm sure that it does, and that's where I think you get to be a little more discerning, right? So if you need an accountability partner for your health and fitness, is it the person that you always see who's so consistent at turning up at the gym or getting up in the morning and doing their thing? And you need them in your ball court because you're not that type of person. You know, you're a late morning person, you know, as long as somebody's going to be there meeting you, you'll turn up. And then, for example, in your business, it could be something very different. You may need somebody who's, you know, much wiser than you, much more established, who's you've seen them in their space, you've seen how they behave and react, and you want to become more like that. So that's why you would hopefully choose that person so they can almost be as like a bit of a guide and a co-creator with you. Um, and I do think you can have different types of accountability partners, especially if you're feeling there's just been no change in your habits or behaviors in a certain area of your life. You might need a really hard-nosed, kick-ass person who's going to motivate the heck out of you, right? And in other areas where you're, as I was saying before, you're too critical, you're too hard on yourself, or you're actually doing quite well, but you just want that discipline or that check-in just to say you're on the right tack, they might be a more empathetic person or um a more established person who's, you know, just really wanting to see you win. Yeah.

Jenny 19:35

And I always find that for me personally, groups are always better because you're able to have multiple personalities of different types of people, what their strengths are as far as strategy and what their weaknesses are at the same time. Um, and I also think those types of people that are more going to, you have the hard-nosed one that's gonna push you to do the things, then you have the one that's like, it's okay, and it's just your cheerleader and is there for it? Because some days you need one and other days you might need another. I find that groups work really well for me personally. Uh that accountability and be able to continue to move forward. Why does who you're accountable to matter just as much as the accountability itself?

Do Personalities And Fit Matter

Natalie 20:18

Great question. I believe it's because if you are an accountability partner to somebody and vice versa, you're there for each other and they're showing up for you every time, but they're not showing up for themselves, um, you probably start to doubt whether they're the best person for you, right? I know that sounds a little bit harsh, but you need to meet somebody where they're at, and vice versa. Um, and you need to know that you're both in it. Like it is it is a commitment and an agreement. And so if you're not seeing that person follow through on their dreams or committing like they're really there for you, but they're not doing it for themselves, either one, you need to be a better accountability partner for them, or you've maybe got a little bit more of a question there. To like why are you doing this to yourself? I think you can learn a lot from accountability partners. Like often somebody can be a great accountability partner for you, but it doesn't translate back. So you don't always have to have that reciprocal arrangement. Depends if you're paying for it or not. Um, but yeah, I think somebody who has um essentially shown you that they're capable, that they commit, that they show up for themselves, that they follow through on things, that they're um they have that internal sense of belief. Um, and integrity is really important. Integrity is one of my number one values, so I always look for that in somebody. You don't need to expect the world from them, they're not your coach, they're not your therapist, right? But they're just there to keep you on track, keep you motivated, um, just check in with you and actually really call you out on your blind spots, and so you will see that established over one, two, or even three months. I know people who've been in mastermind groups and accountability groups for you know five years because they keep showing up for each other. And maybe there's a point at which you just need to refresh that. People are getting a little bit lazy, it's become more of friends checking in, but there's no harm in that either, right? Like as you said at the beginning, we don't want to be in this loneliness, this pit of loneliness. We need to be surrounded by different personalities, um, different levels of success, different strategies, different insights and different ways of experiencing the world and what we're going through. Yes.

Why The Who Matters As Much

Jenny 22:21

And I think honestly, that that was part of the reason that I put in in place a retreat to be able to meet and to have those relationships that you're used to doing v virtually via Zoom or whatever method you might be using, but to actually be in the same room as those people that you've been working with so closely can really re-energize not only you, but also the group and the goals that you're trying to hit as you move forward.

Closing Gratitude And Links

Natalie 22:50

Yeah, absolutely. I love retreats for that because there is something about in-person versus online, don't get me wrong, like a quick little audio message is lovely and meeting here on Zoom is fair. But yeah, there's something about the in-person retreat. I ran one in Bali again last year for the first time in eight years, and it's just incredible. You just can't account for that being there physically with each other and having a bit more of a luxurious time to talk and think and um you know share where you're at. So tell me about your life audit. Yeah, so I've put together a life audit. It's kind of like a quiz of where you're at, like what is actually really important to you in life and in business. You know, where are you growing? Where are you stagnating? What about your relationships? What about your health? It's kind of like the full audit of your life because I think often as entrepreneurs we'll be like, here's my business and here's my life. And I want it to be more integrated. I feel like if my health is great, like I've been on this big longevity streak for a long time. The healthier I get, the stronger I get, the fitter I get, the more I focus on my longevity, the more I show up with confidence, energy, support. I've got more capacity, I've got more resilience, right? Usually enjoying life and more motivating. Then I become a better coach to my clients, then I become a better leader of my legends club, then I become able to run retreats with like, you know, the full gamut and just go for it. I become a better wife, I become a better mother, I become a better friend. So I do really love that audit just kind of highlights to you, just gets you to answer some really honest questions, a little bit like an accountability partner. Where are you at? Where are you going? Where are you off track? And then ultimately in the end of it, there's some resources and like kind of a bit of a summary of okay, here's some things that you can do next to help yourself. So I like to think of it as like a little bit of a guide, a little bit of a muse, once you've realized where am I at across all areas of life and what do I need?

Jenny 24:42

Perfect. We are gonna link tonight in the notes so that we can make sure that you are listening. Grab that. Natalie, I appreciate you so much for taking the time to speak with me and my audience. Thank you so much. It's been a blast.