I like to say “Fine” is the new black. Think about it: When someone asks, “How are you?” chances are you don’t go on a tirade about how horrible the day, the month, or your life has been.  It’s easiest to just answer “fine,” even if you’re feeling everything but.

That’s okay for the masses, because frankly, not everyone wants or needs to deal with your truth. But it’s critical that we get honest from time to time.

Do you have “accountability partners” in your life that won’t take “fine” for an answer? A small but important circle of confidants that delves beyond the superficial? They know the “real” you well enough — and care enough — that they hold you accountable to your goals during the trying times when you need that discipline most.

My close friend texts me to assure I that I logged my long run on the coldest of cold days.

I have a colleague who calls BS when I’m overfilling my plate and setting unrealistic expectations.

There’s a peer that I can always count on to call or email and check in on my progress toward goals that I’ve shared.

In a society where it’s too easy to retreat behind the image we have built for ourselves on Facebook or Twitter, who knows the real you? Will give you a little nudge (or a big ol’ smack upside the head), and keep you on task?

“Fine” is the Little Black Dress when it comes to casual dealings with your neighbors or your employees. But “fine” can become as unfashionable as a pair of acid wash jeans if no one (but yourself) gets to the real you and your real circumstances to push you to be your best.

Accountability partners never fall out of fashion. Who calls you out?