In today’s fast-paced world, taking responsibility is crucial for creating a better life. Embracing personal ownership and making proactive choices can lead to happiness and fulfillment. By understanding the power of responsibility, we can transform our circumstances and achieve our goals.
You already have the Best Life
No hero is coming to save you.
Transform your life by accepting responsibility for your choices
Only you can give yourself a better life by taking strategic actionable steps. Other people’s lives always seem to be more vibrant, happy, chirpy, and brighter than ours but it is not always true. A similar concept is explained by the Greek poet Ovid in the poem “Grass is greener on the other side” as written below:
Why do they say that the grass is greener
-Publius Ovidius Naso
Far greener on the other side? ,
We always said that our grass would always stay green
But instead I think it has died.
Our grass looks so tired and sad
With no sign of fresh green shoots anywhere,
I guess our grass has perished
Through lack of love and care.
It used to be like a lush pasture
The envy of all others,
But now all the green blades have faded
I guess we are no longer lovers.
So I roamed onto the grass on the other side
To see if what they say is true,
I went where the grass is greener
But now that grass is dying too.
As explained in the poem, we tend to have the habit of thinking that what we have is “less” than other people. But let me sincerely ask you this question: Do you have less? The answer is NO. We humans can always be in the zone of Comparison, which eventually comes back to bite us.
Game of Comparison is a trap! Harness the power of responsibility to create your ideal life
It is natural for us to compare ourselves with others but it becomes a cause for our unhappiness when it becomes a habit. Comparison for the intent of growth is beneficial but when it turns to being an addition, that is when you should draw the line. The underlying personality traits of envy and jealousy do not take too long to enter once you enter the loop of constant comparison. In addition, some other negative traits that become your family member in this house of life are:
- Reduced Self-Esteem
- You will always be judging yourself and trying to fit in the perfection mold but will always fall short.
- Feeling stuck
- Constant comparison will not allow you to lead your life to a promising future and will keep you stuck.
- Not being in the “present moment”
- Building a pseudo-reality around yourself will not let you enjoy the beauty of today.
- Ever-moving targets
- You achieve one goal and another “better” option appears which will not allow you to feel satisfied.
- Blaming others
- You will go into the habit of blaming others for not being able to enjoy the successes.
The habit of blaming others is killing you, be responsible
You have to stop putting your trash on other people. It is time to some responsibility. You want to change your life, it will change once you start taking accountability for your actions. It is not always your boss’s fault or your sibling’s stupidity or the weather was not great or some relatives showed up. You responsibility was to deal with it and get things moving. Did you do that? If not, why are you complaining?
You have the make the choice of how you want to build your world like
We all love to cry like a baby. We keep cribbing about all the bad things that are happening in our lives. Hey! Listen to me, a zillion magical things are happening in your life too, did you notice that? It is all about perspective. Some very famous writers wrote:
"It is all Imagination. The world around us is made by our minds"
Think, Plan and, Act
Just building up a great plan will not get the results. You will have to take strict action, even if you do not like it. There need to be strategic steps that you could follow to achieve the goal. Fancy talking and hallucinating will not complete the goal you want to achieve.
| Foods to remove from the diet | Foods to add in the diet | Goals for 21 days |
| Chips | Fruits | Drinking more water |
| Chocolates | Vegetables | Eating home-cooked food |
| Sugary juices | Probiotics | Managing cravings for sweet food |
| Desserts | Protein-rich food | Exercising 3 times a week |
Let us understand this in detail with an example. Let us assume that I want to quit junk food and start eating healthy. I make a list of all the junk food items I am currently eating. Along with this, I added a column of healthy food items that I will include in my diet as a replacement for junk food. I also write my goals for week 1, week 2, week 3, and month 1. In addition, I made a timeline that I will follow this routine for 21 days. Just making the above chart would not complete the goal, you will have to implement the goals to achieve the target. You will have to stop binging on bad food and start eating good food and exercising along with this to reduce weight.
Same is the scenario in life. The mere act of not comparing yourself with others and not blaming things on others is not sufficient. It is good that you stop these traits as they do not serve you. But just doing this bare minimum is not good. You will have to think, make a plan and take diligent action to bring in the results.
Summary:
Taking extreme ownership is the only way forward. Every one of us has many unexplainable habits which we keep on doing without any reason. We must stop these:
- Blaming others for our fault – A big NO
- Comparing with others – A big NO
- Planning and not executing – A big NO
- Extreme Ownership – A big YES
Start living this different life and you will understand how much liberation it brings.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Extreme ownership means taking responsibility for whatever is happening in your life. It implies learning from mistakes, taking failure as an opportunity, and moving further no matter what happens.
It means stepping up and doing what needs to be done. Responsibility in simple words means that you take the load on your shoulders and bring the results. It also includes taking initiative, being answerable for it and facing consequences if anything goes wrong.
Some tips to stop comparing are:
a) Focus on yourself
b) Embrace your uniqueness
c) Celebrate every small or big win of yours
d) Reward yourself from time to time
e) Practice gratitude for the things you have
Start small and be answerable to yourself for what you are going to do. In addition, do not focus on perfection, pay attention to progress no matter how small or big it is.