What may help a person to hold himself accountable?

The following matters shall help him:

1- One should know that whenever he exerts effort in holding himself accountable today, he shall feel comfortable tomorrow when he shall be held accountable before Allah and whenever he neglects that today, the reckoning shall be severe for him tomorrow.

`Umar ibn Al Khattab said: "Hold yourself accountable before you are being held accountable on the Day of Recompense, weigh your actions before they are weighed on the Day of Recompense, and prepare yourself for the great display when you shall be exposed without anything hidden of your secrets."

Al Hasan Al Basry said: "A believer should hold himself accountable before he is being held accountable before Allah (Glory be to Him). The reckoning shall be light on the Day of Recompense for the people who hold themselves accountable in the world. The reckoning shall be severe on the Day of Recompense for the people who have done all these actions without holding themselves accountable."

2- The reward of these righteous actions shall be dwelling in Paradise and looking at the face of Allah (Glory be to Him), whereas losing these rewards shall lead to entering Hell and screening from the Lord (Glory be to Him), so if a person is sure of this, he shall held himself accountable for his actions.

Ibrahim At-Tamimy said: I imagined myself in Paradise eating of its fruits and drinking of its rivers and hugging its virgin houris then I imagined myself in Hell-Fire eating of its thorny trees and drinking pus and boiling water and suffering its chains and fetters. So, I said to myself: Which of the two destinations you want? It said: I want to go back to the world to do righteously. I said: So, you are still in the world, so work hard to achieve the better place.

3- Listening to the stories of pious people and their reckoning to themselves, as these stories shall charge your vigor and help you following their tracks.