How Personal Responsibility Affects Your Life

How Personal Responsibility Affects Your Life

“Nothing happens to advance our potential until we step up and say, ‘I am responsible.’ If you don’t take responsibility, you give up control of your life.” ~John Maxwell

If you examine your life and don’t like what you’re seeing, take a look in the mirror, because that person is solely responsible for changing the results in your life.

If you want to succeed at something, grab life by the horns, accept the responsibility of it all, and take action.

No one else is going to do it for you and things are not going to improve on their own.

It is 100% up to you and only you!

Let’s dig into how personal responsibility affects your life.

How Personal Responsibility Affects Your Life

First, let’s cover the consequences of not taking responsibility for your life.

The Consequences of Not Taking Responsibility:

You develop a victim mentality.

I am of the belief that adopting a victim mentality will keep you stuck where you’re at.

This stems from my own experience in this mentality in my 20’s.

I blamed bad luck, ex-boyfriends, depression, and other people for my problems.

This did nothing but drive my mindset into the depths of despair and it kept me stuck where I was at in my mediocre life.

I believed “it is what it is,” and there was no changing my circumstances.

This mindset focuses on what you cannot do instead of what you can do, and blaming others for what you cannot.

It is an extremely toxic way of thinking and will never bring you resolution or joy.

Take responsibility for your problems, regardless of what caused them, and be grateful for what you do have.

Focus on what you can do and not on what is limiting you.

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You live in a scarcity mindset.

I used to chalk up the negative circumstances in my life to just plain ol’ bad luck.

And while to some extent that was true (even others said it was true!), there was something I wasn’t understanding.

My problems seemed bigger than everyone else’s, but were they really?

They weren’t-everyone else just approached their hardships differently than I did.

While I was dwelling on the past, they were moving on.

When fear of the unknown stopped me, they were doing it afraid.

You must focus not on why things happen but understand how things work, in order to overcome our struggles.

Let go of the “why” of the situation and work on “how” you can resolve it.

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You play the blame-game.

If you’re always looking for a scapegoat to blame for your problems, you’ll never overcome them.

I know of someone who blames the pain of their childhood on their sibling, who has nothing to do with the source of the pain.

This person spirals deeper into their self-inflicted turmoil and despair by their use of the blame game.

But the truth is, no amount of pointing fingers at their sibling is going to make the problem go away.

It has only made things worse.

We cannot blame other people for our negative feelings when we choose to allow those feelings without taking responsibility for them.

In order to overcome a situation, we must take responsibility for our feelings.

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You forfeit control of your life.

“God asks no man whether he will accept life. That is not a choice. You must take it. The only choice is how.” ~Henry Ward Beecher

According to psychologists, some people possess an internal locus of control, where they rely on themselves for the successes and failures in their lives.

Others possess an external locus of control, where they blame others for their problems.

Which one are you?

Whenever I see someone complaining on Facebook (and it’s usually the same few people who do nothing but complain), I just think, wow, this person clearly has lost any control over their own life!

Will you make the choice to claim responsibility of your life or will you let life come as it may?

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You eliminate any possibility of growth for success.

“Argue for your limitations, and sure enough, they are yours.” ~Richard Bach

When you adopt any of the above habits and refuse to take responsibility for your life, you can forget about ever experiencing any growth, and that includes success.

You cannot attain success or overcome problems with excuses.

Every little thing you’re doing right now impacts your future.

The actions you take today are designing your future.

You have to see beyond your self-imposed limitations if you want to get out of the situation you’re in.

Again, no one is going to do it for you.

Personal responsibility really boils down to changing your mindset and changing the way you think.

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The Result of Accepting Responsibility

Now, let’s discuss the results when you accept responsibility for your life.

You take your first step in learning.

When you choose to take responsibility for your life, you open yourself up to learning, which leads to personal growth and, ultimately, the results we want to see in our lives.

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You see things with a healthy perspective.

The truth is, the way you see things is 100% your choice.

Nothing can ruin your life if you don’t let it ruin your life.

Nobody can make you mad without your permission.

Understand that you have the ability to change the way you think and the authority to change your life.

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You stop repeating past failures.

It’s one thing to learn from a mistake; it’s another to keep making the same mistakes repeatedly.

When you make a mistake or experience failure, you must evaluate what you did that led to the mistake and think of how to stop it from occurring.

I know someone who repeatedly dates the same type of guy, and the relationships always turn out the same way.

Instead of examining how she can prevent herself from getting involved with the same type of guy and experiencing the same outcome time and time again, she blames the guys for what they did to her.

It’s a vicious cycle likely to be repeated until she takes responsibility and puts a stop to it.

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You grow stronger.

“If you keep doing the things you ought to do when you ought to do them, the day will come when you will get to do the things you want to do when you want to do them.” ~John Maxwell

As you choose to do the things you ought to do on a day-to-day basis, you become stronger.

Take exercise for example. It’s so hard to get started, but as you make it a habit, it becomes easier over time. Before you know it, your body becomes more toned, you have more energy throughout the day, and you lost those stubborn pounds.

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You build integrity.

When you say you’re going to do something, do you follow up by actually doing it?

Doing so builds integrity-with yourself and others.

When we say we’re going to do something and then flake out, we lose credibility and we lose the trust of others.

Eventually, we might miss out on opportunities as a result.

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Before You Go

Personal responsibility is a choice.

The outcome of your life is a choice.

What you feel is a choice.

If you’ve been struggling with personal responsibility, it’s never too late to get started.

It’s never too late to change your thought patterns and become the person you were destined to be.

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Lisa

Hi! I'm Lisa. I help women live purposeful, fulfilling and joyful lives. I'm happily married and a fur mom to two boxers and two rabbits. I love Jesus, freelance writing, fitness, personal development, reading books, football, cross-stitching, and video games.