It’s time for all of us to take responsibility.
Responsibility for the things we have and for that which we are unable to acquire or achieve.
We have a natural tendency as humans to do our very best to absolve ourselves of responsibility. We relinquish control to inherently seek the path of least resistance, clamouring for the quick fix.
Whether it be doing the dishes, making an important phone call or looking after our health and wellbeing.
If we can delegate, or pass the buck to someone else, we will. Just because we can, and it’s easy, doesn’t mean we should.
When we do this, relinquish responsibility, we are not playing the long game. We are impeding our progress towards the thing we are working on. We need to remind ourselves that the long game is made up of thousands of short games, all winnable in isolation.
Changing who we are, seeking adaptation and moving the needle is a process and we must periodically increase the stimulus we place on ourselves to drive this adaptation we all seek. Safe to say that taking responsibility for the little things is going to allow all of our desires to become a possible reality.
I see three things which can empower us to either take responsibility or if not followed absolve ourselves of it.
1. Self Leadership: A process in which you can influence yourself to achieve your desired results. Basically, doing the shit you tell yourself you should do because you know it is going to serve future you. It’s making the harder decision and having the self-awareness and self-confidence to be completely at peace with putting off pleasure and enjoyment for the bigger picture.
2. Environment: Surround yourself with people who call you out on your bullshit, find an environment in which you can be both empowered and inspired by those around you. We need not collaborate in mediocrity and failure. The echo chamber mentality is not helping us progress, you’re mostly wrong (well I know I am) and it helps to have people who can point that out.
3. A worthwhile endeavour: This is your thing. The result you are chasing. Something that must be earnt. A loving household, a healthy body, a peaceful mind. Whatever it is you must take full responsibility for the outcome, even though the outcome is outside of your control. At the end of the day, the process is what matters, and the process is driven by taking responsibility daily.
It’s time to hold ourselves and others to account. Let’s stop settling and create a life worth living.
LW
Ps. Don’t be shit.
“I would like to begin with integrity… Many of you have a career path in mind.
Many of you have no idea where you will end up.
A few of you may be surprised by where life takes you. I certainly was. In the end, it is not only what we do, but how we do it.
Whatever we do, we must act with honesty and with integrity.
Regardless of your chosen career, you are only as good as your word.
You can be smart, aggressive, articulate, and indeed persuasive.
But if you are not honest, your reputation will suffer. And once lost, a good reputation can never, ever be regained.
As the saying goes: If you have integrity, nothing else matters. And if you don’t have integrity, nothing else matters.”
———-// Robert S. Mueller III //