Written by Kelli Binnings, Brand Expert & Entrepreneur
Kelli Binnings is a multi-disciplined creative who loves talking and writing about brand, psychology, and leadership. She is founder and Chief Brand Strategist at Build Smart Brands, soon-to-be author of, The Breakout Creative, set for release late '25. She is also in the process of completing her Master’s from Goldsmiths University in London in the Psychology of Arts, Neuroaesthetics, and Creativity.
Welp, it’s that time of year again when resolutions and intentions seem to be everywhere. According to a short study at Ohio State University, only 9% of Americans who make resolutions actually keep them, with some even failing in the first week! Why is it so hard to keep our promises of improvement, even to ourselves? Whether our goals are personal, professional, financial, or emotional, our blueprint for success in achieving those goals is directly related to our ability to own and accountably pursue them daily. The problem lies in how we set the goals we choose and the way we measure our success in terms of realistic outcomes. It’s not that we can’t achieve them or that we don’t want them badly enough, but rather that we don’t equip ourselves with the right blueprint for success. In this article, I’ll show you the impact and power of taking ownership of your goals and how to hold yourself accountable so you can be in the ~10% of achievers and life changers.
What does taking ownership and
accountability mean for our goals?
We’re always being told not to take things personally, but honestly, some things we should. It’s much easier to come up with excuses than it is to create (and stick to) a plan. Ownership is about taking responsibility for your outcomes and building systems and strategies for success that are within your control. Failure only comes when you don’t apply what you learn, reset, and try again. One of my favorite quotes is from Thomas Edison: “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
Ownership gives you the confidence to move beyond intentions and into action because you accept that you’re doing everything within your power to win. This form of proactive thinking builds resilience and helps you reframe situations, have empathy for yourself when you fall short, and follow through on the promises you make to yourself.
When coupled with accountability, your goals become shared experiences. Accountability helps you build and nurture a community of trusted peers who encourage and support you in maintaining the willpower and self-control not to falter. While self-reflection methods are great, accountability turns your little wins into milestones. When creating goals, ownership and accountability are the two things that make them real, actionable, and attainable.
Defining your relationship to ownership
Ownership is a switch. One day you decide you’ve had enough and that only you can make the change. Somehow, all the hard work becomes less of an option and more of an absolute for creating the transformation you envision for yourself. While doing things for others comes with external motivation, ownership inspires intrinsic motivation—a never-ending well that’s refilled every day through your why. Accepting this responsibility allows you to create structure and discipline when and where you need it most.
To share a personal example, my own fitness journey started like most. After COVID and a series of life events, I took a hard look at myself and decided it was time to make a change. I stopped focusing on what was easy and convenient and started focusing on a healthier future version of “me” that I could be proud of. Once I took ownership of what I wanted, everything changed.
After years of setting the same “eat better, move more” goal, it wasn’t until I set shorter, trackable goals and enlisted the help of a few friends that I sailed right past my previous limits and transformed my health and fitness into something I never thought possible. You can read more about my journey here.
So, trust me when I say it isn’t easy, but it gets easier. Once you define what progress looks like, reframe your relationship to failure, and focus on daily choices, everything gets easier.
The science behind ownership, accountability, and achieving your goals
A psychology nerd at heart, I always like to support my thoughts and claims with science. The way we act is directly related to the way we think, interpret, and view our realities. If we think something is impossible, it will be. The difference lies in knowing and owning our version of possibility. Self-determination theory (SDT focuses on our psychological need to grow through individual control or autonomy, our ability to develop mastery in something that brings us joy, our desire to satisfy what intrinsically motivates us, and our need for ownership over our personality and overall well-being. Basically, we want to take ownership of our lives—it’s ingrained in us. We just need to define and act on what we want. When we set, track, and achieve our goals, we’re using our behavior to reinforce our thoughts, shape our outcomes for the better, and ultimately, feel in control of our lives.
In addition to behavioral theory, there is neurological evidence that shows the release of dopamine in anticipation of completing a goal. This release of dopamine reinforces your excitement for what’s to come and helps you leverage and extend your motivation to achieve your goal. Even our dopaminergic system is rooting for us!
We are wired to work toward growth, so why are we fighting it? Instead, we should be planning for it and using it to drive the frequency and intensity of our success.
Here are a couple of tips and what you can expect in building your blueprint:
Have a vision and make a plan
You’re probably tired of hearing this, but write your goals down. Thoughts can be scattered, but writing them forces you to simplify, articulate, and, in some cases, visualize exactly what you’re working toward. I also challenge you to create a vision board – something visual that you can reference quickly to remind yourself of what and why you’re on this path. Once you have at least one of these, you can build your plan by breaking your goals into smaller milestones. These give you realistic behaviors to track and monitor your progress.
Wanna take it to the next level? Build in consequences and habit-stacking behaviors. Just as we plan for rewards, we should plan for consequences. Denial is a lesson in perspective. And whether good or bad, most things come in threes. Try stacking good habits so you have a better chance of remembering to do them and you get triple the reward for routinely doing them. Honestly, habit-stacking is one of my best-kept secrets.
Overcoming pitfalls and challenges
Comfort and complacency are your adversaries. There will be moments you want to quit, that’s normal. Try looking at it as one emotion, one weakness in a series of emotions rather than a goal-ender. Just because you take a wrong turn doesn’t mean you can’t circle back and get back on track. This will also help you build a healthy relationship with failure, self-doubt, and how you see your overall progress. No more feeling sorry for yourself, harboring regret, or beating yourself up. Remember you are in control, you own this. Complete failure is a decision. Reflect on your mistakes, adjust, and keep going.
Over time, our brains learn from our behaviors. At first, it’s difficult because you’re reprogramming your thoughts. You’re building new neural connections and strengthening neuroplasticity through focused patterns. Like gardening, you don’t start with a beautiful flower bed, you have to dig and till the garden for the roots to grow and monitor the right conditions for everything to bloom. (side note: I don’t have a green thumb but still holding out hope as it’s a beautiful metaphor). The point is progress takes time. Have patience with yourself, let things develop, but always prune and water your garden.
Staying motivated and on track
Learning to identify your strengths and weaknesses is the first step in preparing your blueprint. Predicting how you’ll handle roadblocks and avoiding challenging situations will be your biggest ally in reaching your goals. These behavior patterns will start to act as triggers or decision points for you to pinball your way through your plan.
Try creating some “if this, then that” scenarios to help connect your thoughts with your behaviors, also helpful in habit-stacking.
Spend some time reframing the meaning of comfort. It doesn’t mean that you have to accept pain or get used to suffering, just learn to see difficult situations as an opportunity to improve a desired outcome.
Keep things realistic and attainable with daily wins and weekly progress, rather than monthly or even yearly goals. Not every day will be the same but uptrending averages are what you’re aiming for.
Measure and observe everything! Intention is useless without results and the only way to track results is to measure.
Remind yourself why you’re doing it. Do it because you want it, not because you feel the pressure to achieve it. This is where ownership and accountability come in.
In closing, only you have the power to change your circumstances and perspective. Make your goals your own and you can achieve many things others may see as impossible.
Who knows, you may even surprise yourself along the way like I did. Never underestimate the limits you can go, if you just decide the time to change is now.
Want more?
I’m frequently writing about this topic and more on the “thoughts” page of my website. Feel free to connect with me to further discuss how you can improve your goals, business, and brand leadership within your organization.
You can connect with me on LinkedIn, Instagram or visit Build Smart Brands.
Read more from Kelli Binnings
Kelli Binnings, Brand Expert & Entrepreneur
Kelli Binnings is a fearless thinking, multi-disciplined creative, who loves talking and writing about brand, psychology, work culture and leadership. As a life-long learner and "design your life" believer, she thrives on bringing ideas to life and joy to others through her work. Outside of her brand business and love of writing, she’s a published music photographer, wellness athlete, soon-to-be author of her first book, titled The Breakout Creative, set for late '25. She is also in the process of completing her Master’s from Goldsmiths University in London in the Psychology of Arts, Neuroaesthetics, and Creativity. Her mission: To reframe the way people think and apply positive psychology to their professional lives.
