Happiness and Personal Responsibility
Patrick Prasch
GEN-200
01/30/3012
Richard Guliuzza, MBA

Happiness and Personal Responsibility
“As human beings we all want to be happy and free from misery… we have learned that the key to happiness is inner peace. The greatest obstacles to inner peace are disturbing emotions such as anger, attachment, fear and suspicion, while love and compassion and a sense of universal responsibility are the sources of peace and happiness.” Dalai Lama
Personal Responsibility defined is freedom and happiness. By taking responsibility we are acknowledging that we hold ourselves accountable for our choices, behaviors and decisions. Commitment and integrity are the key behaviors associated with personal responsibility, making the commitment to do what is right and demonstrating integrity, doing the right thing even when no one is watching attributes to our happiness. Personal responsibility also means that we are not only accountable but that we learn from and correct our mistakes. Individual happiness is directly tied to personal responsibility. In order to grow as a person and a student it is important to take personal responsibility because it empowers us and takes control away from others. In a nutshell, personal responsibility is freedom and the freedom to choose and to make our own decisions is essential to happiness. Accepting responsibility also changes our attitudes and we become a more positive and being positive is also related to happiness. As Raj Raghunathan Ph.D. states in his resent article “person who has taken personal responsibility recognizes an all-important truth about happiness: your happiness depends much more on your attitude than it does on objective, external circumstances.”
When taking personal responsibility a higher value is assigned to our behavior and directly reflected in our actions. Our personal ethics (our belief in right and wrong) drive our actions and motivate us to be better people. Having a clear conscience is essential to being happy and by taking personal responsibility we keep our conscience clear and the resulting behavior is a willingness or drive to continue to be happy. Take for example a man who has turned in a paper that he did not write and his conscience is eating at him. He knows what he did was wrong and now must spend time and energy thinking about what he has done and what he will do the next time he is tempted to turn in a paper he did not write. He experiences strong emotions like anger, sadness, anxiety, hopelessness these emotions affect everything he does and his personal relationships suffer and this causes him to feel trapped and unhappy. Now had he taken responsibility for not writing his paper and turned in nothing then his grade would have dropped but his conscience would be clear and he would feel pride that he did the right thing, learn a lesson and figure out how not to let this happen again. He would be free of his conscience and happy with whom he is. Personal responsibility is also linked to feelings of ownership and those associated feelings of ownership such as pride, responsibility, personal freedom translate into positive behaviors. The results of those behaviors are evident when plans, processes, skills, and tools are developed to overcome obstacles in the path that would prevent becoming a successful student or a successful person. One advantage to personal responsibility and ownership is that it prompts action, avoids procrastination and assigns priorities to the things in our lives that take up our time.
Success at the college level can be achieved only by taking ownership and being responsible for our education and academic goals. Without fail, every successful person I know in life shares the same traits, they all take personal responsibility for their lives and they have a positive attitude, this brings me to the conclusion that there is a direct link between being successful and taking responsibility for one’s own actions or inactions. A 2004 study done by J. Organiz listed three fundamental outcomes when ownership is present: positive attitude, enhanced self-esteem, and a sense of responsibility. The study tied attitudes and behaviors together in order to demonstrate the positive links between psychological ownership and attitudes.
To further illustrate this let’s look at this example: You just turned sixteen and dad just handed you the keys to the old rusted out barley working car in the driveway for you to drive. Over a period of several months the car is never washed, the oil is never changed and you have hit every speed bump in the city at 25 miles per hour just so you could watch the trunk lid pop open. Now that same car is not loaned to you but is given to you and how does that effect behavior? The first thing is a good cleaning, washing and waxing inside and out. Then all the fluids are changed and every dime that you have earned over the past several years is put into the car for wheels, tires, paint, mechanical fixes and accessories. No longer does the speed bump it taken at 25 but rather at two and the trunk lid gets fixed. The change in attitude is due to the difference from borrowing to owning. Taking ownership of the car has changed the behavior the car is being driven more carefully and ownership has improved self esteem.
These feelings of personal responsibility and ownership are what prompted changes while going through the following experience and further demonstrates the direct link between personal responsibility and ownership: Working late I had forgotten to submit two assignments that had been completed the day prior. It was 15 minutes after the deadline when they were finally did turn them in for only half credit. Because the assignments were late my overall grade point average fell low enough that I missed the Dean’s List and an opportunity to apply for a scholarship. I did take responsibility for missing the deadline and it spurred me to formulate a plan to get organized. It is the same plan that I use today.
Here is a list of statements that are use to assist in being successful by accepting personal responsibility and changing behaviors. First statement on the list “I will not blame others for my failures or take credit for work I did not do” this statement gives me power over my actions and demonstrates my commitment to personal responsibility. Next “I will be committed to doing my best at all times” this statement is about taking ownership and demonstrating a positive attitude. Then “I will demonstrate honor at all times” this statement is a constant reminder of the type of person I strive to be at all times. There are several more but these are the top three and most closely tied to personal responsibility.
I learned early through experience that taking responsibility can lead to adding tools and skills that will help me be a better student and person. The Universities offer several tools to help students be successful, tools from software that will correctly format papers, student reviews, libraries, counselors and my favorite tool the plagiarism checker. Missing the deadline may have cost me money but motivated me to develop a valuable plan to get organized, take responsibility seek help and am successful.
The Dalai Lama is absolutely correct, no person wants to be unhappy and knowing everyday that we can choose to be happy is a great comfort. Being successful at the college or in life requires a commitment to personal responsibility. There are several tools, skills, strategies and help that are available to assist us in achieving success but unless we are willing to be responsible for seeking these then we can’t succeed at any level. Happiness is the ultimate prize for winning the personal responsibility game.

References
Lama, D. (2011, December). Thinkexist.com. Retrieved from http://thinkexist.com/English/Topic/x/Topic_292_1.htm
Organiz, J. (2004). Journal of Organizatioal Behavior. Unknown: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Retrieved from http://linnvandyne.com/papers/job%202004%20van%20dyne%20pierce%20psychological%20ownership.pdf
Raghunathan, Ph.D., R. (2011, December). Taking Personal Responsibility for Your Happiness. Retrieved from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/sapient-nature/201112/taking-personal-responsibility-your-happiness