7 Signs You May Need a Responsibility Makeover
Erica Hopkins
GEN 200
03/02/14
Dr. Crystal Sears

7 Signs You May Need a Responsibility Makeover

I believe that not everyone knows about personal responsibility. It should not be looked upon as a handicap, but as one area within everyone that can be developed. Once developed, personal responsibility can contribute to life achievements, goals obtained, and more sense of control over one’s own life. This is great because I think there are a few basic things to look for in your life to identify if you are someone who could really use a good look at yourself. Read on to find to if you can identify with any of the following signs. Do you need a responsibility makeover?

Theodore Roosevelt once said “If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn't sit for a month.” Good Reads (2014) He certainly would be one who would know a great deal about personal responsibility. Theodore Roosevelt was a president that achieved a great deal during his time. Despite having a few health conditions, including asthma which was considered quite a deadly illness in the mid 1800’s, he created his own exercise routine that is said to have been pretty difficult and included both weightlifting and boxing. Bio True Story (2013)

The seventh sign that you may need a personal responsibility makeover is you constantly complain about your job, but do nothing to better your employment situation.
So many people are unhappy with their job but feel stuck in the situation. Here is one thing I know for sure, complaining will do nothing but make things worse. We are completely in control of our career choices and always have the ability to change. What it may take can be looked at in terms of one question. What are you willing to give to be happy with your career? There is a lot of talk about raising the minimum wage pay requirement. Should we not be raising the standards of our citizens? You can always educate yourself, start a home business, invent something new, or just shoot for a better higher paying job. Sometimes may not be the job exactly. Maybe it is the co-workers. Do co-workers make you hate your job? NO! Nobody can make you feel anything you are responsible for how you feel at all times. If there are some people who are constantly negative, do your best to avoid these people or do your best to encourage a more positive outlook on life and the job. Realizing that you are in control of your career level is one step toward being more responsible for yourself.

Number 6. You use the word IF a lot. Statements such as these will be uttered endlessly: “I would have a better job if I had a more education.” “If I had more money I would be able to obtain more of my goals.” Learning more = knowing more. I used to think this way, before I started educating myself more and more. But, I actually do think I know more than many who are not educated. I really do not get the point here. You may not know how to complete an algebraic expression and then you go to school and boom you learn. What education lacks is life experience, expansion of the spiritual self, and freedom of untamed thoughts. :) Also, I really don't think it is the school you attend that creates the quality knowledge, it is the student attending the school. So, yes school of life holds a lot of knowledge and the local library is one of the best schools available. The diploma is not for me to show people that I am smarter, it is to show the potential employer. It is the quickest way to prove yourself. Most of this I learned while playing LIFE. There is no room for if in life. If does not exist for anyone. There is doing and not doing. The only time an actual if happens is when you decide to do something about your situation or not to do anything. Being personally responsible means constantly asking “what else can I do to make myself a better person?”

Number 5. You may blame your dog for accidents. Your dog cannot let itself outside and even with a dog door you must train your pets to behave as you expect them to behave. There have been people I have met in my life that treated their dogs like they were supposed to be some sort of intuitive, highly intelligent being that is here for their convenience. Even in this situation where you were not the one who actually had an accident on the carpet, you are responsible. Looking at this example you can see how understandably the dog owner will be upset. But, if that same energy was channeled through responsible behavior this pet owner may just end up with a great, kind obedient dog. No yelling, no newspaper shaking, and especially no nose rubbing. Those are all negative behaviors with negative results. Accepting that it is my fault as the owner and I need to learn how to train my dog better. Going to the library and checking out a book or even paying a dog trainer to help me will grow me as a person and my dog as a pet. Another positive outcome due to personal responsibility.

Number 4. You complain about wanting to lose weight or get healthier but continue to live an unhealthy lifestyle.

Number 3 You blame traffic when you are late. Being responsible means taking action before it is too late or in this case, before you are late. Checking weather reports the night before work, listening to traffic reports and always giving yourself ample time to arrive on time is how a person be more in control of their time.

Number 2. You complain about life not being fair. I cannot watch the news anymore. There are way too many stupid people, way too many! Is it not easy to be stupid? I think it is getting harder and harder for people to pretend that they are stupid or naïve to what is going on around them. When will society stop trying to inflict social justice everywhere?

I don't have a problem with treating people kind and fair. I do have a problem with people constantly whining about being treated unfair. In this country when people act inappropriately, even when left alone, they are their own undoing.

The more laws you create the less freedoms you have. People willingly becoming slaves slowly over time. We work far more hours now, then we did in the past and for less money. More and more of our earnings are being swiped even before we are able to hold or see them. It makes it easier for you to just pretend it is not happening when you don't see it happening. You just accept that you pay into a bottomless pit? Being more responsible means not complaining about what ou are not getting and just finding out how you can go about getting what you need on your own.

#1 you may blame inanimate objects for your run ins resulting in painful or obnoxious results. I have a hard time with time one myself. But the fact remains, if you left the vacuum out in between your bed and the bathroom and you know you get up in the middle of the night, in the dark, then it is your fault that you stubbed you toe, not the vacuum. Of course most of us know the vacuum cannot be at fault but how many act before the stubbed toe. Forward thinking is a great way to be more personally responsible.
The next time you are about to blame your dog for its muddy foot prints, remember you are more responsible than that.