Sometimes all that it takes to get back on your feet is an extra push. It comes in the form of a listen, an understanding, a few words of encouragement, and some advice.

I get that push every week from a few individuals who set aside 90 minutes of their busy week, for me. I’d like to think of us as a unique group of trusted friends and we have a simple motto - to listen, to question, to encourage, and to hold one another accountable. Accountability, that was the driving force.

My first real taste of it was Weight Watchers. I joined a group of work buddies to shed off pounds using the WW points-based disciplined eating (not diet) method. Every week, we would get together to weigh-in, discuss the issues we faced and share stories to encourage one another. It worked. The power of Accountability became evident in our reducing waist-lines and disappearing double chins.

Keith Ferrazzi, in his inspiring book called “Who’s Got Your Back?”, talks about the origin of Weight Watchers and its accountability-based model. He says that it is the backbone for creating “Lifeline Relationships - deep, close relationships with a few key trusted individuals who will offer the encouragement, feedback, and generous mutual support that every one of us needs to reach our full potential."

I call it the Circle of Influence, a way for us to get influenced and uncover solutions.

Churches have accountability groups where you get support and guidance by giving faith. Successful people in business keep the company of trusted advisers, peers and experts from their industry. They share experiences and ideas to gain insight, strategies, to make better business decisions.

You have to give in order to gain.

Dr. Steve R Covey defined that "A Circle of Influence encompasses those concerns that we can do something about. They are concerns that we have some control over."

What are the concerns you've control over? What if, you were to convert them to your goals? What if, you didn’t have to work on those goals on your own? What if, you had a group of trusted advisers to give you that extra push? What if, you could have them check on your progress every week, discuss and remove your roadblocks?

What if, you had a Circle of Influence to give you that extra push?