The nobility of accountability

One thing I've learned about myself during grad school is that my motivation really ebbs and flows. Lately it's been ebbing. :) But accountability is a good way to give myself some much-needed help.

* Need to wake up at a reasonable hour? Have my roomie threaten to send in the dog if I'm not up by a certain time.
* Need to stop staring into space during the day? Tell my officemate to look over once in awhile and make sure that I'm typing away for the next x (where x >> 0) minutes.
* Need to overcome various mental academic obstacles? Get together for a long and intense study-session with a friend who needs to do the same.
* Need to keep long-term goals in mind? Tell my advisor what I want to do before I graduate, and ask him to give me occasional deadlines and to make sure that I actually keep my word.
* Need to keep a straight head during emotionally rough times? Figure out what are smart and non-smart courses of action and e-mail a friend who will check up on me to see that I'm sticking with the smart ones.

It's hard for me to decide whether I like being held accountable for my actions. Sure, using accountability can help me to get the job done. But sometimes I wish that I were motivated enough to do these things on my own. It's embarassing to ask people to help me with things that I'm supposed to want to do, or with situations that I've gotten myself into, or with work that I'm being paid to "do."

But on the other hand, God puts others into my life for a reason. I'm not meant to do everything in a box. I'm human and I should need to ask for help. And I see a lot of people in my life who can help me become a stronger/better/wiser person than I am today.

But when I feel like I'm leaning too strongly on others, I start to feel scared. I'm scared that leaning on others too much may cause me to become even lazier and over time, to lose some of my own strength.

So how can I tell if I'm becoming stronger or weaker by getting help from others?