Do you take enough responsibility for your life? Those that don’t often have challenging
lives. There are so many forces working against you that it’s imperative to actively
participate in your life.
Blaming others, relying on luck, playing the victim, or hoping that randomness
will be in your favor is a loser’s game.
Your destiny is under your control, but only if you exercise that control.
Use these strategies and take greater control of your life:
1. Own your problems. Every problem you have is your responsibility to manage.
Whether you have terrible parents, a bald head, ugly knees, or a lousy boss,
you’re the only person that can save you. Own your problems and you’ll stop
waiting for someone else to save you.
2. Make yourself a priority. It’s okay to put yourself first. If you don’t, who else is
going to? No one. You and your life are important to you. If you don’t make
yourself a major priority in your life, your life will suffer for it.
3. Avoid complaining. Complaining implicitly suggests that you don’t have control
over the thing you’re complaining about.
● If you can’t fix the thing that’s bothering you, then why complain? If you
can fix it, then fix it. But fix it without whining.
4. Avoid making excuses. Excuses make you weak. Some people look for
excuses so they can let themselves off the hook and take a passive position.
Forget about making excuses and look for solutions. Excuses undermine your
power over your life.
5. Schedule your time. How you spend your time is critical. Avoid living your life by
the seat of your pants. Make a plan for each day and follow it to the best of your
ability. You’ll be stunned by how much more control you have over your life if you
use your time wisely.
6. Choose the people you allow into your life very carefully. People can wreak
havoc quickly. They’re unpredictable, distracting, and tend to act in their own best interests. You have an obligation to yourself to be very picky about the people in your life.
● It’s better to be a little lonely than to deal with the burden of something that
isn’t a positive addition to your life.
7. Track your time. Make it a habit to review how you’re spending your time each
day. At the top of each hour, ask yourself how you spent the last hour.
You’ll find yourself making better choices if you develop this habit of checking
yourself.
8. See yourself accurately. This is incredibly challenging to fix, but it’s very likely
that you simply don’t see yourself accurately. This causes a lot more grief for you
than you realize.
● You might not know how you come across to others or what it is about you
that people like and don’t like. You underestimate and overestimate
yourself in many ways.
● It’s not necessarily enjoyable to see yourself accurately, but it’s certainly
helpful.
It’s important to take full responsibility for your life. Acknowledging that your life is
your responsibility gives you the power to control the outcome of your life. You’ll
feel better about yourself and your future if you accept full responsibility for your life.
I remember when I was finishing up my work in India with the World Health Organization
(WHO) and having to decide what I wanted to do in life. I had trained as a pediatrician,
yet in working in smallpox eradication in India we had just eradicated a disease that
many thought could not be done! Did I want to continue in international public health or
did I want to go back to clinical medicine? I knew I had to return to the states and finally
work as a pediatrician and then decide. I did return to the US and found I was missing
international work and I was offered a scholarship to get a Master in Public Health
(MPH) at Johns Hopkins. I jumped at the chance and that led to other offers that
brought me back overseas. You have to take responsibility for your life!
This is part of becoming an adult, but it’s more than that. There really isn’t another good
option. To refuse to take responsibility for your life puts you at the mercy of others. No
one will ever care about your life more than you do.
The only way to have a great life is to be responsible for every aspect of it!
