There are 4 steps to losing body fat and building muscle. The first three you need to follow are:

1. The 3 Rules to Eating Healthy

2. The 4 Components of the Optimal Fitness Routine

3. The 4 Destroyers of Fat Loss

If you can understand these concepts, you're going to be in a great position to lose body fat and build muscle and build a body you're proud of.

But without the fourth step the first three don't matter.

If you don't follow the fourth step, the previously three render themselves useless.

And the fourth step is one that all of us know we need but we're scared to get it.

The fourth step to losing body fat and building muscle is...

While - on the surface - accountability doesn't seem like a practical strategy that you can implement, it most certainly is.

I hear time and time again from people that, "I know what to do, I just won't do it."

"I know I need to exercise, but I can't get myself to go."

"I know what I need to eat, but I just can't do it consistently."

"I need someone to hold me accountable or else I won't do it."

All of these boil down to following through, execution, and accountability.

What or who is holding you to the standard of excellence that you need to be held to in order to achieve your goals?

What I've learned after having coached 353+ people through the 10-Week Transformation, is that there are 3 layers of accountability.

If you use 1 layer, it increases your level of follow through.

If you use 2 layers, it increases it even more.

If you use all 3, it will maximize your level of follow through and therefore it will lead to optimal results with losing fat and building muscle. 

The 3 layers of accountability are as follows:

1. Self Accountability - the best way to hold yourself accountable is by creating a scoreboard. Having a scoreboard for your goals creates a sense of high stakes. It gives you a means through which you can check off whether or not you did what you said you were going to do.

2. Peer Accountability - have a friend take a workout class with you. Have your significant other meal prep with you. Invite someone else into your life to help hold you accountable to doing what you said you were going to do. We hate to let other people down, so it can be massively valuable.

3. Coach Accountability - not only can a coach use his or her expertise to craft you the most efficient and effective plan to get you to your goals, but that coach can also hold you accountable. That's largely what you pay a coach for - to hold you accountable. If your goal is big enough and/or important enough, I highly encourage you to hire a coach.

But with that said, what I need you to understand most is that you can't always rely on others for accountability. At some point you need to take ownership over holding yourself accountable.

It's not realistic to always have a peer text you to see if you went and worked out.

It's not realistic to have a coach in all areas of your life for all of your different goals.

It is realistic to build the muscle of self accountability. 

It is realistic to write down what you want to do. And then check in with yourself on a daily and weekly basis to see what you were able to do and where you fell short.

This has been the biggest key to any success that I've ever had.

The ability to hold myself to the standard of - I'm the type of person who follows through with the promises that I make to myself.

I always hold myself accountable by keeping track of whether or not I did what I said I was going to do.

If accountability is a major struggle for you, I recommend you implement one or more of the following layers of accountability:

1. Self Accountability - by creating a scoreboard

2. Peer Accountability - having a friend hold you accountable

3. Coach Accountability - hire a coach for your goal

Regardless, I'd recommend you form a daily and weekly habit of checking in with whether or not you followed through with what you said you were going to do.

To shifting accountability from our downfall to our superpower,