Personal responsibility means taking responsibility for your own actions – not that easy! We’ll show you how to do it and what you get out of it.
What do you mean by personal responsibility?
Under the term Self-responsibilityalso individual responsibility called, one understands the willingness to take responsibility for one’s own actions, feelings and thoughts, to take responsibility. This means: We deal with our own behavior and don’t point at other people. We also stand for possible ones Consequences one that results from our actions.
However, this is often easier said than done: when something goes wrong, we tend to to explain our behavior through the behavior of other people. This feels good for the moment because it allows us to shift our anger, our bad conscience and our feelings of guilt. In the long term, however, self-responsibility will get you a lot further!
Why is self-responsibility so important?
To understand what a life of more self-responsibility will bring you, we should two examples view. The following sentence could come from a person who doesn’t want to take on much responsibility:
“I didn’t have a good upbringing, so I’m just insecure.”
Those who live by the principle of personal responsibility would probably say the following:
“I didn’t have a good upbringing, so I’m making sure to work on my insecurities today.”
A second example:
“If my sister talks to me like that, I can only become aggressive and have to bite back.”
Instead, you could take responsibility for yourself and express yourself differently:
“When my sister talks to me like that, it’s up to me to stay calm and not descend to her level.”
Personal responsibility: Get out of the victim role
Have you noticed that the first two sentences immediately hit us? catapult into the role of victim? We make our minds, our actions and our thinking dependent on the behavior of other people. This makes us quite controllable and influenceable – anything but steadfast. All it takes is one stupid comment and we become ourselves to the head bitchwho we don’t actually want to be.
We could now choose to point the finger at other people and blame them. But then we would be like that constantly preoccupied with assigning blame – and that doesn’t feel good. Or we worry about becoming so strong that no one can annoy us so easily: Here comes it Self-responsibility in the game.
Important: The topic of responsibility is important not about blaming yourself for everythingbut your own influence and to show your own options for action. And that makes you strong because then you no longer make your happiness (or unhappiness) dependent on external factors. You can free yourself from the victim role and realize that you can achieve and control a lot yourself. No matter what other people do!
How do you learn personal responsibility?
How can you do it to learn self-responsibility? To do this we should do the following five mindsets internalize:
Mindset 1: Others are not responsible for my feelings
It often happens subconsciously: We blame other people for our feelings. Maybe you know this too. You are upset because the boss was rude. You now blame the boss for your displeasure.
But a life full of personal responsibility also means To take responsibility for your own feelings. Sometimes it takes a few strategies – for example, you can learn how to better handle criticism so that it doesn’t bring you down. Or how to act on your own anger so that no bad words slip out.
A good strategy to gain some distance from negative feelings is to ask yourself whether you too are in this situation could react differently. This creates some distance from the problem and we act (and speak) in a much more considered manner.
Mindset 2: I accept my weaknesses
Who is perfect? Personal responsibility means standing up for yourself. To do this we have to accept and accept ourselves – with all faults and weaknesses. One is a bit sensitive, the other reacts quickly to anger. Take responsibility for yourself and your personality – that proves it true strength!
Tip: Here you can find out what else makes a strong personality.
Mindset 3: I control my mood myself
We all know it: the day is going great so far, but then something unexpected happens and the mood is in the dumps. Annoying. There’s no question that we can’t always control what’s out there. But What we can still control is our mood!
Mindset 4: I am not the victim of my circumstances
Have you ever had something like this? “internal locus of control” heard? This is a term from psychological research. Anyone who has an internal locus of control believes that they can control their life can design yourself and has an influence on what happens. The opposite of this is someone who has a “external locus of control” has. This person is more convinced that you are not free in your decisions and that external factors (origin, biology, finances) determine your life.
When you strive for self-responsibility, it is of course the internal locus of control that you want to achieve. Then you know: I have the rudder in my own hands and I am not the victim of my circumstances!
Mindset 5: Your behavior does not justify my behavior
“What else was I supposed to do when he treated me like that!” Especially in conflict situations, private or at work, we tend to justify our own behavior by the behavior of another. Maybe you change your tone because your partner made a stupid comment. Then it’s obvious, in the opposite to see the reason for your own problematic way of communicating.
However, the principle of personal responsibility says the opposite: no matter what happens around us – We are still always responsible for our own actions and our own words. The fact that someone else was mean to us doesn’t give us the right to be mean in the same way. In the end, this only harms ourselves.
So remember the principle of responsibility when you challenged feel. You never have to stoop to the hurtful level that the other person is on. Rise above it and preserve your energy!
In addition to self-responsibility, you might also be interested in the topics of self-discipline, inferiority complexes, becoming more relaxed and self-motivation.