Well, accountability is a very important motivating factor for any habit you're trying to develop. Whether it's practcing a language, an instrument, or a skill,

Well, accountability is a very important motivating factor for any habit you're trying to develop. Whether it's practcing a language, an instrument, or a skill, many need the feeling of accountability in order to proceed. When you're in a class, you're not only learning from the instructor, you're accountable to them, and they to you regarding your success. In group activities like this, you're accountable to your buddies or your team. With solo exercise or any self-improvement, the most important thing is making you accountable to yourself. It's a fine line between a healthy care and an obsessive care, but when you walk on the healthy side, it's a good things. In a completely non-professional manner, I've been the "buddy" for a lot of people looking to lose weight and get a bit healthier in general; I"m by no means in perfect shape, but I eat clean, run daily, and do light lifting. Since I travel around frequently, it's hard for me to be an eternal buddy for people, so I almost always emphasize getting them accountable to themselves. Not to make them judge and hate themselves, but more just to ask "do I really need the large popcorn at the theatre?", or "it has been a long day, but do I want to spend it on the couch watching reruns or take 20 minutes to jog a little?". By putting a conscious effort and awareness on one's self and making them "talk to themselves" about their wants, since ultimately that's what it needs to become; not exercising because they should, or losing weight because they've been called fat, but to have people be able to be honest with themselves and figure out what it is they really want. Once you start to cut out the external noise a lot of people use to frame their identity, you stop getting ridiculous goals and ideas like "bulk up like The Rock" or "look like [super model]", and instead get more realistic and practical things like "I just wanna get up the stairs without being out of breath" or "it'd be nice to just lose a bit of this gut". The latter are what the individual wants, and that's actionable. They're accountable to themselves at that point, not to someone they see only occasionally. Actually wanting to care for yourself is probably the greatest motivator with health stuff you can have; some people just need a little push to get started.