“Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did the best to become the best you are capable of becoming.”  John Wooden – Head Coach UCLA 

The ancient Romans truly understood the concept of trust and personal responsibility.  The architect of new construction was made to stand under his work, until the scaffolding was removed.   While today, you might not get crushed by a giant arch if you make a mistake, you still have personal responsibility for all your actions.  So, taking personal responsibility is taking conscious control of your responses to the events and circumstances of your life.

You are directly responsible for yourself, whether you want to be or not.  What you do with your life and what you’ve done already is up to you.  Sure, things happen that are out of our control.  While you may not be able to control everything that happens to you, you are nevertheless responsible for how you think, act, and feel in response to those things.

Benefits Of Accepting Personal Responsibility

“You must take personal responsibility.  You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, the wind, but you can change yourself.  That is something you have control over.”  Jim Rohn-Motivational Speaker

There are many benefits for taking personal responsibility.  One of the most important is freedom.  By accepting personal responsible you gain the freedom to create you own vision, your own life.  When you admit to yourself that you are solely responsible for your life, you immediately recognize how much control you really do possess. 

Trust and respect is another benefit.  Let’s say you made a mistake while working on a project at work.  If you admit your mistake, people are more likely to believe you about other things you do.  Your word will have meaning when you take personal responsibility.  But it’s not just about trust.  You gain a tremendous amount of respect when you take responsibility for your actions.

There are all sorts of negative emotions that come with not accepting personal responsibility.  Consciously or not, when you blame others, you may feel anger or resentment towards that person.  You will almost invariably feel guilty or ashamed.  The worst part about denying responsibility is an overall sense of powerlessness.  When you  feel you do not have control over your life you can not perform optimally.

Taking Control Of Your Life

You need to make a conscious decision to become the sole person responsible for your life., No one else can do it.  You need to make that decision now.  But you can’t just say you’ve decided to take personal respons7uibility and then have it be true.  Surrendering responsibility is a habit you need to remove, and here is how:

Recognize you choices.  At any given time and in any given situation, you have a choice on how to respond. Take the blame when something goes wrong, openly acknowledge it as your fault, even if you feel there were external circumstances that contributed.  Accept yourself and your circumstances.  Accept responsibility for who you are right now.  It’s not other people who made you the way you are, but ONLY your own thoughts and actions.  Only through accepting personal responsibility can you move forward.

Stop relying on external validation.  Don’t depend on other people to make you feel good about you.  If you need external validation to make yourself feel happy, you surrender personal responsibility for making yourself happy.  While external validation is pleasant, you cannot be dependent on it for your happiness. Learn to validate yourself through acting authentically to your own values.  In addition, forgive yourself and others, People make mistakes. Other people do it.  Everyone does.  If you mess up, don’t beat yourself up over it.  Just take responsibility for it and move on.  Remember, you are not responsible for others.  You are responsible for you. Accepting personal responsibility involves letting go of the need to feel responsible for others.  If you feel burdened by other people, you need to let go of them, just as it isn’t theirs to look after you.

Therefore, taking personal responsibility for your life can be very challenging and a lifelong process, but it is necessary if you want to be truly happy and empowered.

“In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves.   The process never ends until we die.  And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.”  Eleanor Roosevelt – First Lady (1933-1945)