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Being Responsible for Our Actions

Last week we were talking about creating good habits and breaking the bad ones.  I’ve been reading a book with the same title, written by Joyce Meyer one of the world’s leading practical Bible teachers.  I haven’t come across a book in a while where I have felt challenged and even provoked to change.

We’re well into the new year. How are you going with your goals? Have you set any yet?

Did you know there is power in writing out your goals?

There was a study done where they surveyed the Yale graduating class of 1953 to find out how many students had written goals.  Only three percent had. In the cohort that meant only 3 out of 300 had written their goals down. When surveyed again thirty years later, that same three percent had accumulated over 90 percent of the wealth of the entire graduating class. There’s something about writing it down and putting it out to the universe.

On top of that I’ve been challenged that in writing my goals out to create good habits to help me with attaining these goals.  One of the habits that Joyce Meyer talks about in her book is the ‘habit of being responsible.’

Joyce says that:

Making excuses each time we are faced with taking responsibility for some action or lack of action is a very bad habit.  It can easily derail our life and will likely prevent success. If we take responsibility for our lives, it can often be a shocking experience, because suddenly we have no one to blame.

How many of us have heard or said the following:

“I’m sorry I’m late but…”

“I couldn’t exercise because…”

“I didn’t get that job done in time because…”

And don’t get me wrong there are legitimate reasons why things happen and sharing them honestly is not the problem. It becomes a problem when we are using it as an excuse not to change.

We all know those people who are ALWAYS late.  Maybe you’re one of them. There’s always an excuse.

But what if we looked at it this way:

THAT BEING LATE SENDS THE MESSAGE THAT YOUR TIME IS MORE VALUABLE THAT THE PERSON WHO IS WAITING FOR YOU.

Ouch. I’ve done it. I’ve squeezed in ‘one last job’ before I go to meet a friend. I’ve left little time between appointments or hit that snooze button one more time.  However, we make excuses and those excuses can end up leading into lies. We deceive ourselves through our own reasoning.

We Should Aim To Be People Of Integrity.

We should aim to be people of integrity and take responsibility with our goals this year.

If we commit to something…follow through.

If we know we struggle with time management…space out those appointments.

If we said we are going to call someone back…call them back. (I’m actually guilty of not doing this one well).

Traits Of A Responsible Person

Joyce Meyer says that:

When a person is committed to being responsible, you can count on them to be dependable. They finish what they start and for what they say they will do. They rarely give up on anything because they are steadfast and dedicated.

See if you recognise yourself in these traits of a responsible person:

  • Responsible people pay their bills on time. Meyer says that’s because they ‘think ahead and don’t spend more money than they earn. If they do fall on hard times they don’t ignore their responsibilities, but they are truthful with those they are committed to and make arrangements to make things right as soon as they can.
  • Responsible people don’t have to worry about the future, because they have planned ahead. Meyer says that’s ‘they have prepared for the future by saving a portion of what they earn for emergencies or retirement.‘ (I have to confess that I’ve often had the YOLO- you only live once, mentality).
  • Responsible people take good care of what they own. Meyer says that ‘they take care of family obligations When they have a job that needs to be done they do it. They do it without having to be prodded or reminded multiple times.

 

So What Can I Do To Take Responsibility?

Meyer would say there are five steps to stop making excuses and to start living a responsible life.

  1. Face the truth – Admit you have a problem and state it out loud. You may even want to confide in a friend who will keep you accountable.
  2. Don’t have unrealistic expectations – Don’t make any commitment if you cannot follow through on it. Make realistic goals.
  3. Stop complaining– Complaining drains our energy. When we complain we find excuses not to do something.
  4. Be agressive – Don’t procrastinate. Maybe even do the thing you like the least first.
  5. Find a solution to obstacles – Eg if you’re late to work because of traffic think about leaving earlier. We will find a solution if we truly want it to work.

So lovely tribe.  What do you need to take responsibility for? What are some solutions to some of the obstacles you have that might make life that little bit easier for you?  I’d love to know.  Please share the post using the buttons below and comment as well. Let’s get a conversation started.

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