Accountability is one of those words that are thrown around regularly, but that we don’t necessarily enjoy hearing – because we often hear it when we haven’t done something we intended to do.

We are generally accountable to our superiors in the workplace, at school, university, or church; and our friends, leaders and mentors.

The saying that “we judge ourselves by our intentions and others by their actions” is so true.

So, at the beginning of this year I thought long and hard about some of the things I would love to change going forward.

After listing a few things I thought needed some urgent attention, the next question was: How am I going to achieve this? And more importantly, who is going to make sure I don’t waiver in my priorities?

One of the things on this list was to get healthier and fitter.

I am generally an active person. I enjoy the outdoors, the odd hike, a game of touch rugby and backyard cricket, amongst other games.

But last year I honestly let that aspect of my life slip. So I decided, to fix this. The trouble is that I wanted to be able to do this with someone. However, because of the busyness of life, it was just impractical.

Then it hit me: there is an app for that! 

So I ran a search for the kind of app I was looking for and voila, I found the exact thing I was looking for.

These days, my progress is assisted by this app. It reminds me when I need to put in some exercise time, when I need to rest, how far I need to go (when I run or walk), and even not to over-train in order to avoid injury.

Don’t get me wrong, the app cannot replace human interaction, but it is a great step in the right direction if you intend on starting something without making excuses for not being able to do it due to a lack of a partner/friend/mentor etc.

Yesterday marked the first day of the second month of the year (already!). But how many people do you know that have already failed/dropped their new year’s goals and resolutions?

I saw something on social media recently, it read: “January was really a trial run for 2016; I’ll start fresh in February.”

This is hilarious, but often true.

Make no mistake; I am not here to judge people who haven’t succeeded in keeping their targets, because there are some things I have also failed at. But I have certainly made a start, with the help of technology.

It’s amazing how whenever I am planning my life now, I “consult” my trusted app to make sure I make enough time to get in the workout I require. When I am done with the day’s tasks, there is no greater feeling than seeing a green tick and hearing the encouraging voice at the end of a workout: “Boom!, Well done, see you tomorrow,” or “Woah, you’re on a roll!”

It all seems trivial, but it has helped me make a start.

In the 21st century, perhaps it is time we fully harnessed the power of what our phones can do to help make life easier and help us achieve our goals.

There are some things that apps obviously cannot assist you with, which I understand. You cannot, after all, have a proper conversation with Siri. However, when it comes to the things that you can outsource to your app store, then why not?

Are you using technology to its fullest in achieving some of your goals this year?

Because chances are that whatever you need to do… there’s an app for that!