9 Ways To Take Responsibility for Your Life

In this article we talk about responsibility, what it is, and look at 9 ways to take responsibility for your life.

It is a given that everyone wants to be successful, but a lot of people don't realise that in order to do so, they need to take responsibility for it. Similarly, people don't want to fail, but no one wants to take any responsibility for their failures.

That said, there's an important distinction to be made here. Taking responsibility is not the same as taking blame.

If your life sucks, there may be external factors to blame, but ultimately it's your responsibility to get your life in order. Don't put yourself down, own what happens and take responsibility for it.

The only person that will ever take responsibility for your life is you.

Simply said, if you aren't responsible for your life, you must likely won’t be happy with the outcome. If you leave your life up to luck or the actions of others, the universe is likely to beat you down. In truth, an enjoyable life doesn’t generally happen by accident!

Therefore, be responsible for your outcomes, good or bad. Take responsibility for your past and your future, good or bad.

Learn how to take control of your life today and steer it in the direction that you want to go!

Here are 9 ways to develop responsibility for your life:

1. Don't blame others

Were your parents good parents? Possibly not. What parenting school did they attend? 

Is your boss a jerk? Maybe! 

There are lots of things in life that aren’t your fault but are still your responsibility to manage. And no one else is going to do it for you.

• If you're honest with yourself, your life would be infinitely better if you could just go back in time and make one or two different decisions... but that's another story!

2. Learn from your own mistakes

Your mistakes are yours. Learning from them is another way to take responsibility from your life. Learning from them enables you to prevent similar occurrences from happening in the future.

3. Set goals

Setting goals is taking responsibility for your future. You’re choosing the life you want to live and experience. Setting goals also implies that you’re going to work toward them.

4. Schedule your time

How you choose to spend your time each day is the most important decision you can make that day. How you choose to spend your time determines your future. Take responsibility for your life by choosing to utilise your time wisely.

5. Manage your thoughts

Your thoughts impact your actions. If you want to take responsibility for your life, it’s necessary to manage your thoughts.

• You can think about whatever you’d like to think about. Your brain also produces random thoughts, but you have the power to ignore them or to pay attention to them.

6. Take responsibility for what happens

The most effective way to live is to take all the responsibility. Maybe your ex was an evil person, but you did allow that person into your life. Whatever is going wrong in your life, take responsibility for it.

• If you’re responsible for the challenges you face, you can do something about them.
• On the other hand, if you think that they’re totally someone else’s doing and there’s nothing that you can do about them, you’re giving up your control and any possibility of resolving them.

7. Accept the idea that no one is coming to save you.

You’re not a child anymore. No one is going to care about your life more than you do. You can’t wait for someone to save you.

8. Acknowledge your weaknesses.

Everyone has plenty of flaws, and that’s okay. Failing to recognize them only leads to failure and frustration. Fix your flaws if you can. Otherwise, avoid any course of action that will result in your flaws working against you.

9. Acknowledge your strengths.

It’s just as important to realize your strengths and use them to your advantage. Milk your strengths for all they’re worth! Formulate them into affirmations and say them daily!

As an adult, no one is ever going to care about your life more than you do. It’s a big responsibility, but there’s no one else to do it. Having a great life is up to you!

Be willing to take responsibility for your successes, failures, flaws, and strengths. Be responsible for your outcomes.

Learn from your mistakes... your life is in your hands!