You Are Responsible

The Acceptance of Complete Responsibility

Perhaps the most important personal choice you can make is to accept complete responsibility for everything you are and everything you will ever be. This is the great turning point in life. The acceptance of personal responsibility is what separates the superior person from the average person. Personal responsibility is the pre-eminent trait of leadership and the wellspring of high performance in every person, in every situation.

The acceptance of complete responsibility for your life means that you refuse to make excuses or to blame others for anything in your life that you’re not happy about. You refuse, from this moment forward, to criticize others for any reason. You refuse to complain about your situation or about what has happened in the past. You eliminate all your “if only’s” and “what if’s” and focus instead on what you really want and where you are going.

If you are not happy with any part of your life, say, “I am responsible” and get busy changing it. If something goes wrong, accept responsibility and begin looking for a solution. If you are not happy with your current income, accept responsibility and begin doing those things that are necessary for you to increase it. If you are not happy with the amount of time you are spending with your family, accept responsibility for that as well and begin doing something about it.

When you accept responsibility, you feel personally powerful. The acceptance of responsibility gives you a tremendous sense of control over yourself and your life. The more responsibility you accept, the more confidence and energy you have. The more responsibility you accept, the more capable and competent you feel.
The acceptance of responsibility is the foundation of high self-esteem, self-respect, and personal pride. The acceptance of personal responsibility lies at the core of the personality of every outstanding man or woman.

On the other hand, when you make excuses, blame other people, complain, or criticize, you give your power away. You weaken yourself and your resolve. You turn over control of your emotions to the people and situations you are blaming or complaining about.

You do not escape responsibility by attempting to pass it off onto other people. You are still responsible. But you give up a sense of control over your life. You begin to feel like a victim and see yourself as a victim. You become passive and resigned rather than powerful and proactive. Instead of feeling on top of your world, you feel as if your world is on top of you. This way of thinking leads you up a blind alley from which there is no escape. It is a dead-end road on which you should refuse to travel.

See Yourself as Self-Employed
When you accept complete responsibility for your life, you begin to view yourself as self-employed, no matter who signs your paycheck. You see yourself as the president of your own personal service corporation. You see yourself as an entrepreneur heading up a company with one employee — yourself. You see yourself as responsible for selling one product — your personal services — into a competitive marketplace. You see yourself as completely responsible for every element of your work, for production, quality control, training and development, communications, strategy, productivity improvement, and finances. You refuse to make excuses. Instead, you make progress.