With great power comes great responsibility

Working my way around the shops the other day I heard a young teenage girl hysterically cry

“Oh!  This would happen to meee!!!”

Apart from the obvious victim status negative thinking – this highlighted a large number of people’s inability to take responsibility for their own mistakes.

Upon listening further it had turned out she had stupidly put down her phone in the food court, walked off without it and upon her next opportunity to take some selfies (i.e 30 seconds later) realised it was missing and gone back to find it had gone.

I listened to the continued self-pity for a couple of minutes before leaving to sit somewhere quieter.  She blamed “the thief” and continued saying it was “just her luck” as if she was some sort of person who the world conspired against and not that she was air-headed enough to leave a piece of technology worth hundreds lying around.

Presumably this isn’t the first time something like this has happened to the girl and because she failed to take responsibility it probably won’t be the last.

Responsibility an admirable quality

One of the first things I learned when I first started setting goals was that if I wanted to achieve anything I had to start taking responsibility from my actions and stop blaming others.

Every person has great power if they demonstrate responsibility

If you don’t you create the mindset of always finding someone else to point the finger at while you have the mindset of being the blameless victim.  This does you no good if you ever want to actually achieve something – whether it is thinking you didn’t get that promotion at work because the interviewers were arseholes or your lack of weight loss being down to Karen at work who keeps “feeding” you with cakes.

By demonstrating responsibility you are making yourself stand out from the crowd because you are taking responsibility – many people don’t.  The first time I did this at work I instantly noticed an increase in respect from colleagues for owning up.

Also it shows that you are confident in yourself, not insecure and that you are open minded – which although you may be rough around the edges makes you perfect development material.

Also quite importantly, by owning up – problems can be resolved before they escalate and get worse – not just in the workplace, but as a person who wants to self-improve you can start addressing your weaknesses that have been holding you back.

Keep reminding yourself

Now that you are aware of the benefits of being responsible – always keep your mind open and be prepared to challenge your thinking – it’s easy to fall into old habits.

Just a couple of months ago I missed my train after it set off a minute earlier because I got a bit carried away at the gym.

At first I blamed the fact it left earlier but I quickly thought it through and realised that the fault was in me – trains can always leave a minute earlier so I should have been prepared for that possibility – I should have finished on time, I could have got changed quicker or ran for the train.

Because I accepted my responsibility I always finish at the gym earlier.  As a result I have not missed a train since.

Take responsibility!