7 Terrific Tips to Take Control

I wanted to talk about individual responsibility this week as it’s something that’s quite important to me. With the way the world works at the moment it’s a little too easy to always push the blame away from yourself and onto anyone or anything else. There are some great examples of this that have been played out in court, some are quite amusing and there are even cases where they won!

There was the woman who sued Google Maps because of their bad directions, she thought that because Google Maps told her the best way to get to where she was going was along a major highway with no pedestrian walkway that it would be safe to walk along it…turns out it wasn’t. A woman sued Halloween Horror Night because it was “too scary”, Robert Lee Brock sued himself because he “partook in alcoholic beverages and caused himself to get arrested.” He wanted the state to pay $5 Million because of his own poor judgment. Finally, there is the man who attempted to commit suicide by throwing himself in front of a subway train. He survived, horribly injured, and decided to sue the train authority because the driver did not stop in time.

There are countless examples of such behaviour and there seems to be a lot said but not a lot done in order to fix our apparent flaws. So I searched around the internet and found a few proclamations that I am trying to utilise in my life here is the list of 7 I put together:

• I am responsible for my own emotions. Others may do bad things to me, and may even hurt me, but if I let it eat me up inside, the blame rests with me.
• If I don’t like the way things are, it is my responsibility to seek out or accept leadership roles so that I can change things. I don’t expect anyone else to accept my suggestions and implement them.
• I am responsible for the consequences of my actions. I will not blame others for not reacting properly to my actions, and I will not assume a “no-fault” lack of responsibility on my behalf.
• I do not have control over others, and I am not directly responsible for their actions. I may have some influence, and I may actively oppose others when the matter is important to me, but in general it is not my responsibility to provide unwanted advice, judge others’ actions, correct their mistakes, nor to punish them.
• Other peoples’ mistakes are their responsibility, but if I allow those mistakes to continue or to jeopardize the attainment of my goals, that is my mistake.
• I am responsible for managing my time. It is my responsibility to prevent myself from taking on too many responsibilities. When others ask for my help, the choice is mine. If I offer help, I do so freely and without expectations that the person(s) helped will repay me for my kindness. If I can’t help, it is my responsibility to clearly say “No.”
• I can’t change the past, but it is my responsibility to evaluate current conditions and to plan for the future

So who would you rather be? The person who blames others and is subject to the winds of fortune? Or the person who takes responsibility and has control over where they head in life? It’s important to realise everyone has a choice. Even in choosing not to decide, you still have made a choice.