Curious about Responsibility: How Affected Are You By It? And, Are You Willing to Take Responsibility?

“Life is a gift, and it offers us the privilege, opportunity, and responsibility to give something back by becoming more.” - Tony Robbins, American author“

"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, American First Lady

I chose the above quotations because both Tony Robbins and Eleanor Roosevelt have been great influencers in my life. I chose the theme for this blog – Responsibility – because of another influencer that I have been following for the past year – Mike Dillard, master network marketer.

In a recent “Ask Mike” e-newsletter, he pointed out that what transpires in our lives and businesses is our responsibility.

He had received an e-mail letter in which the writer was complaining and whining about the fact that his upline had not helped him and he wondered what Mike would suggest how he should handle this obstacle to success. After all, it was the upline’s fault.

I loved Mike’s answer. Basically, he told the letter writer that it was his own lack of responsibility that was holding him back. In no uncertain terms, Mike talked about the choices we make. He told about his own slow ascent to “making it” in the network marketing industry. It took him five years of responsibly working at it, not giving up and learning everything he could to become a success.

If I have learned anything over the years, I know that we are responsible for the choices we make. We can blame others and cite circumstances beyond our control. However, we are responsible for how we handle setbacks and those external events that give us challenges.

The experts all agree:

• “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, American writer
• “You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.” - Abraham Lincoln, American President
• “Big pay and little responsibility are circumstances seldom found together.” - Napoleon Hill, American journalist
• “The happiest people in the world are those who feel absolutely terrific about themselves, and this is the natural outgrowth of accepting total responsibility for every part of their life.” - Brian Tracy, American speaker and motivator
• “Responsibility walks hand in hand with capacity and power.” - J. G. Holland, American novelist
• “There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them.” - Denis Waitley, American author

And, just a couple more – there were so many excellent choices:

“The greatest day in your life and mine is when we take total responsibility for our attitudes. That's the day we truly grow up.” - John C. Maxwell, American clergyman

“Responsibilities are given to him on whom trust rests. Responsibility is always a sign of trust.” - James Cash Penney, American businessman

In these challenging times, we can easily become victims of the “doom and gloom” of the recession, or we can take the challenge and be responsible for our outcomes. I am not saying it is or will be easy. It is our responsibility and choice. Let me know how you are doing.