#23 - Personal-Responsibility
“Self” words are popular these days—self-image, self-esteem, self-acceptance, self-aware, self-made, self-confident, self-control, self-indulgent, self-value, self-identity, etc. Some of these words have noble goals (others not so much), but these words are increasingly less likely to be used in conjunction with personal responsibility. The concept of personal responsibility is a foundational tenant of our legal system. Humans choose, decide, instigate, and cause actions. Therefore, they are morally accountable for their actions and can be held legally liable. Obviously personal responsibility is important to things like the law, but what about sports? Yes! Your coaches cannot hand you skills, improvement, PRs, wins, or championships. All of these things require you to put in some effort—that’s called taking personal responsibility.
Personal responsibility has two requirements. Setting a standard of some kind which an individual takes action to promote and accepting responsibility when failing to meet those standards without blaming outside effects. A breakdown in either of these components can result in blame, apathy, anxiety, and depression.
The word responsibility comes from two words: “respond” and “ability.” This illustrates an important concept of personal responsibility—I have the opportunity to choose how I take action in reaction to the situation. This reality is experienced in two different ways by different people.
The first group of people have what’s known as an internal locus of control. They believe that in general, things can be impacted by the actions that they choose to take (the Growth Mindset!). As you can imagine, those with an internal locus of control tend to take lots of actions, be proactive in setting goals, and as a result are more successful. The people in the Response #2 group, have an external locus of control—they believe that things happen to them, are generally beyond their control, and cannot be managed by the actions they choose to take (Fixed Mindset!). Unfortunately, studies have indicated that an external locus of control results in a number of negative psychological effects. This begs the question: why do some people still maintain an external locus of control mindset? As an athlete, things are a lot tougher with an external locus of control. Take responsibility and reach your goals. Personal responsibility will be hugely valuable to you.
I’ll leave you with these three quotes. Have a great day!
“Man must cease attributing his problems to his environment, and learn again to exercise his will – his personal responsibility.”
Albert Einstein
“It is a painful thing to look at your own trouble and know that you yourself and no one else has made it.”
Sophocles
“A sign of wisdom and maturity is when you come to terms with the realization that your decisions cause your rewards and consequences. You are responsible for your life, and your ultimate success depends on the choices you make.”
Denis Waitley