Home » Blog » Taking Responsibility For Your Actions: A Humble Beginner’s Guide to Personal Growth and Leadership

“Your best performance begins with your taking responsibility for your actions and your life.”

Your life is a story. Every day might be a separate page, every month could be a separate chapter (or year, if you choose), and so on. Because you are the protagonist, this story is unique as it grows and evolves alongside you.

But no matter what, it’s your story and there is only one person in charge of your life, and that person is YOU! Nothing matters: your boss, your spouse, your parents, your friends, your clients, or the economy. YOU! Everything changes the day we stop blaming people for everything that happens in our lives! 

It’s all his fault! It’s because of you!

Bad news no one is coming to save you, good news is that no matter how helpless you may feel right now, you have the ability to become the author of your own life as long as you’re breathing and you are ready to take the responsibility.

Taking responsibility for your life is taking charge of your life and becoming the main character of it. Instead of being a victim of circumstance, you get the ability to create your own circumstances, or at the very least, the ability to choose how you will respond to the situations that life throws at you.

It makes no difference what happens to you in life; what matters is your attitude. And you get to choose your attitude! What has to happen to make your life better if you blame your condition on others? All of the others must adapt! And believe me when I say this, that is not going to happen. 

You have the power to change the things in your life that you don’t like if you’re the protagonist! Your thoughts, behaviours, and feelings are all under your control.

Taking Responsibility For Your Actions: What Does It Mean?

Now that it has been established that YOU are the protagonist of your own story and it’s up to you how you want to move forward with it.  So, even if you have no control over the impulses that your environment constantly sends your way, you have the freedom to pick your response to the situation. 

A person with a “victim mentality” simply reacts as an innocent, and constantly blames others for his or her life predicament, all while blaming the past and pinning their hopes on a future that will mysteriously bring answers to issues or a change in those who are creating the difficulties. 

The protagonist is aware of his or her responsibility, and he or she chooses appropriate action and holds himself accountable. He learns from his experiences in the past, lives in the present, where he sees ongoing opportunities for change, and decides and pursues his future goals while taking responsibility for their actions.

The question is “Who will you choose to be – by your actions – when life presents you with these situations?”

Coming back to understanding what taking responsibility for your actions means. So taking responsibility for your actions means to recognise the role you play in your own life – of the protagonist. Rather than blaming others it means stepping up to take charge of your own actions. It becomes our key expression of independence and have some degree of responsibility over the outcomes or consequences.

Taking responsibility changes our consciousness state. The act of taking responsibility changes us (if only momentarily) from secondhand consciousness or reliance, to firsthand consciousness, from dependence to sovereignty, because in that exact moment our primary relationship is to reality rather than to other peoples views about reality.

Taking responsibility is both a statement of our successful adulthood—individuation—as well as a means of achieving it, of bringing ourselves more fully into reality, defining identity, and transforming potentiality into reality. 

Who I am might be viewed as the intersection of what I intend to take responsibility for and what I am.

5 Steps Towards Taking Responsibility of Your Life

Prioritise Yourself

Carving out time for oneself is critical. No one knows you as well as you know yourself, at the end of the day. No one else has as close a relationship with your loves, worries, pleasures, pains, and desires as you do. As a result, as you take control of your life as an adult, it stands to reason that no one will be able to look after you as well as you can look after yourself.

Stop Blaming

The only way you can take responsibility either of your life or your actions is by stop blaming others. Remember you are the creator of your life. You are te result of your actions. So rather than telling your partner, your team or your boss—it is your fault. Take the blame on your self and take necessary actions to improve the circumstance.

Assert Your Potential

Asserting your potential begins with recognizing your concerns for what they are and seeing rejection for what it is, but in order for your assertions to be significant, you must also prepare your mind for the challenges ahead. Accept your emotions, fears and shame and try to practice mindfulness.

Don’t Make Excuses

Just like stepping into blame game is bad similarly making excuses is the same. It enables you to avoid taking responsibility for the outcome of a situation. It’s tempting to make excuses to justify our actions, but it’s counterproductive and won’t help you in the long run.

Transform Your Dream and Commitments Into Reality

If you commit to something be true to your words. If you said it’s your responsibility then own it. If you started owning your actions and taking responsibility, that would be the beginning of the end.

Taking Responsibility for Your Own Actions Reflects On Our Character

Taking responsibility for your own action reflects a lot on our character. It brings out the best features in us. It reflects our leadership abilities. Like for example, are we capable enough to handle a team and take responsibility of their actions. So until and unless we take responsibility for our own actions we won’t be able to stand for our team. 

In the same way taking responsibility for our own actions reflects our self acceptance. The act of taking responsibility for being conscious—that is, bringing proper awareness to our activities—is the first and most fundamental act of self-responsibility.

It also reflects our empathy not only towards ourselves but towards others too. So the question to you is are you ready to take responsibility for your actions?

I know it’s not going to be a piece of cake but trust me the advantages of taking responsibility exceed the downsides that comes wit it. Take a hurricane or a thunderstorm for example. They can appear frightening, impressive, and even majestic. How long do they last, though? 

It normally takes only a few hours, if not a few days, for them to arrive. You’d soon forget they were even there. There may be some damage, but it will be quickly remedied. They might as well not have happened at all, and in many situations, we’d be better off without them.

But what about the rains, which many lands experience on a daily basis? Because they shape rivers, grow trees, move the ground, and cleanse the grass, they are blessed and cherished. It is the steady arrival of a rainy season, not the unexpected eruptions of a furious storm, that permits substantial transformation. So why don’t you allow yourself and own the narrative that you want to write. 

10 Taking Responsibility Quotes: Inspirational and Motivational Quotations to Help You Become a Better Person

“Success on any major scale requires you to accept responsibility . . . . In the final analysis, the one quality that all successful people have is the ability to take on responsibility.”

— Michael Korda

“It is only when you take responsibility for your life that you discover how powerful you truly are.”

— Allanah Hunt

“You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself.”

— Jim Rohn

“The moment you take responsibility for everything in your life is the moment you can change anything in your life.”

— Hal Elrod

“The price of greatness is responsibility.”

— Winston Churchill

“In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.”

— Eleanor Roosevelt

“Responsibility is demonstrated by actions and deeds; not by words or information inserted in some glossy magazines or corporate websites.”

— Samuel O Idowu

“In order to win and succeed in life, responsibility is so important. This is a part of being an adult and learning how to be responsible for everything.” 

— Tonya R. Owens

“The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely to be the one who dropped it.”

— Lou Holtz

“There is an expiry date on blaming your parents for steering you in the wrong direction; the moment you are old enough to take the wheel, responsibility lies with you.”

— J.K. Rowling

Frequently Asked Questions

What taking responsibility for your actions means?

Taking responsibility for your actions entails recognising the protagonist role you play in your own life. Rather than blaming others, you must take responsibility for your own actions. It becomes a significant manifestation of our independence, as well as a measure of control over the outcomes or repercussions.

What is the metaphor of taking responsibility for your actions with reference to life?

Your life is a narrative. Every day might be its own page, every month could be its own chapter (or year, if you like), and so on. Taking responsibility for your life entails taking command of it and assuming the role of the protagonist. You get the capacity to create your own circumstances, or at the very least, the ability to select how you will respond to the conditions that life throws at you, rather than being a victim of circumstance.

What is taking responsibility of your life?

Carving out time for oneself is critical.

The only way you can take responsibility either of your life or your actions is by stop blaming others. 

Asserting your potential begins with recognising your concerns.

Just like stepping into blame game is bad similarly making excuses is the same.

What does taking responsibility for your own action reflects?

Taking responsibility for one’s own actions reveals a lot about one’s personality. It brings out our best qualities. It demonstrates our ability to lead. Are we, for example, capable of leading a team and accepting responsibility for their actions? So we won’t be able to stand up for our team until and unless we take responsibility for our own acts.

What are the most popular taking responsibility quotes?

“You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself.”

— Jim Rohn

 

“The moment you take responsibility for everything in your life is the moment you can change anything in your life.”

— Hal Elrod

 

“The price of greatness is responsibility.”

— Winston Churchill