Success Through Personal Responsibility

Success Through Responsibility

Though certain aspects of people's lives may lead them down a particular path, personal responsibilities will help lay the foundation for their success. Personal responsibility is when a person is accountable to their personal commitments, choices, and actions. Their level of responsibility will help in their decision-making, and they will see success in the goals that are set. Most important, following through with responsibilities will have a big part in whom they become and will lead to more success. Even though people receive support from many areas of life, the personal responsibilities they set determine the amount of success they achieve.

Decision Making

People will not make blind decisions or empty commitments if they are accountable for their choices. Responsibility is "something that you should do because it is morally right" (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, n.d.). Taking accountability for choices, whether good or bad, shows responsibility. Making decisions or commitments without any accountability to them will produce a negative impact, which will affect the irresponsible party and everyone involved with those decisions and commitments. Unreliable people continually make commitments to others and constantly decide not to follow through with those commitments. Unreliability is a trait that is not desired while working with others. When working on a team (as students of University of Phoenix do), failure can take place if a task is given to a team member and no responsibility is held to that task by that team member. A team will benefit when its members ensure that their individual portion of an assignment does not fall into another member's commitments by holding their selves accountable to the portion of the assignment they commit to. A decision backed by responsibility will always benefit everyone involved.

Long-term Goals

Goals become achievable by accepting responsibility for personal success. Taking full responsibility for actions, decisions, and even short-comings ultimately lead to success (Canfield, 2012).Goals are simply ideas of desired end results to be achieved, and remain as a thought in a person's head until commitment, sacrifice, and action take place. For example, a couple can write out on a piece of paper that they want to buy a house within three years but if they go out and spend their paychecks with nothing left for savings during those three years, they simply have written down a good idea on paper. There was no commitment, sacrifice, or action to their idea of owning a house; therefore, the goal may not be achieved. Commitment is more than just saying that a person wants to do something. It is doing what is necessary to ensure success. If, today, a person decides that he will have a degree in three years and take the necessary steps