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Ryan Furrer
Ryan Furrer

Posted on • Updated on • Originally published at codingcatchup.com

#100DaysOfCode

As discussed in my previous post I recently joined a paid accountability group called dip.chat. What is an accountability group you ask?

What is a paid accountability group?

It's a more fool-proof way for you to be accountable to whatever your current goals are. In this case, the accountability group is made up of 6-8 people and we all chat in a private Telegram group chat. At the start of it we all introduce ourselves and list what our goals are for the next 30 days. As this one started from a web developer in the tech Twitter space, that's what all of our goals are centered around.

But not all accountability groups are about tech and not all are paid. Hell, not even all of them are a group of people but instead 1-on-1! For me, having to put money upfront and losing money when I don't do what I committed to really helps me be accountable - I personally need that extra push to take it seriously despite me wanting to learn code.

Some people may need even more of a push and increase the amount of money they'll lose for not working towards their goals that day. For example, I know one YouTuber that says he has to text a friend at the end of each day listing off what they did and what crutches or bad habits they stayed away from (or didn't) - if they don't they have to send that person $200 the next day.

$200 is too rich for my blood currently but if you were at risk of losing $200 due to not holding yourself accountable you'd probably do everything in your power to make sure you get shit done.

That is the most powerful part of an accountability group or buddy - it is a way to help keep yourself accountable for your own actions or inaction. This is an incredibly powerful thing when you have a lot of goals, long-term goals, or a big project to work towards. It can be hard in our busy lives to continue to push yourself towards your goals but if you are a driven individual that needs some help an accountability group can be just what you need!

So what are my goals?

I have a lot of goals in life right now - buy a house, travel around Europe for a couple of weeks, lose a ton of weight and be healthy for once in my life...but right now my #1 priority is getting a job as a Front-End Web Developer. Sure you can focus on more than one thing at once but everyone has different obligations outside of their main goal and maybe I can't focus on saving enough money to travel around Europe right now or maybe I'm not losing weight as quickly as I might if it was my #1 focus but I can still do things within my available time that let me work towards that goal.

For me right now, I need to get into a career I enjoy and can provide me and my future wife a better life. I cannot continue working a job that makes me feel miserable, gives me no fulfillment, and has a toxic work environment.

My #1 goal is to become a Front-End Web Developer

So what's next?

The title of this blog post coincides with something I did to help keep myself even more accountable - I was publicly keeping myself accountable over on Twitter to up the ante for myself for the next 30 days, however, I think it's time to join the #100DaysOfCode train. Yes I'm in dip.chat but I want more than that - I also hope that in continuing to be active in the tech Twitter space as well as writing again I can being to build a brand for myself.

I plan on blogging weekly summaries of the previous week's activities as well as things I'm learning to give back to the community so be sure to follow me on Twitter if you are interested in seeing more and thank you for reading.

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