Personal Responsibility Julie Torbert Gen 200 August 13, 2012 Ben McCollum Personal Responsibility Personal responsibility includes taking accountability for one’s actions, responsibilities, and goals that will improve performance and relationships in one’s life. Personal responsibility means that one is responsible for his or her actions and any consequences they may cause. People are solely responsible for their attitude; how they feel and think about things will determine if they will be successful in life.
Persons are also accountable for their goals in life, first they need to set goals and determine what steps they will need to take to accomplish the goals they have in life. One should set short-term goals to help build up to long-term goals; doing this will allow you to feel accomplished each time a short-term goal is reached and will keep you motivated. A person can write down their short-term goals that lead up to their long-term goals so that every time that person checks off a short-term goal it will help them to feel a sense of accomplishment.
Another way to build a person’s identity is to broaden experiences, knowledge, and insight. Doing this helps a person gain social and moral character which develops social and personal accountability (Braskamp & Chickering, 2009). Personal responsibility will help oneself to achieve college success. As they hold their self accountable for their success, they will gain control over their lives, which will in turn, build their self-esteem. People who develop a sense of purpose will commit to being personally and socially responsible. Developing purpose is a way to think broadly and to view one’s life in a manner that encompasses career plans and aspirations as well as personal interests and interpersonal and family commitments and responsibilities” (Braskamp & Chickering, 2009, p. 28). A person should learn what their weaknesses are and work on turning them into their strengths; this will help them to become a better person and student. Experience is one of the best ways to learn, so surrounding oneself with virtuous leaders will help to define and strengthen one’s character (Osiemo, 2012).
Improving one’s weaknesses will help to increase their performance, leaving them with more time for other things. Holding one personally responsible for their actions will help them stop procrastinating and get their work done in a systematic manner. A person will need to learn to manage their time to accomplish getting their work done without feeling stressed and overwhelmed. Managing one’s time includes work, school, health, and also finding the extra time to do things they enjoy.
A calendar is a good way to keep a person on track by organizing a daily and weekly schedule. A smartphone is another good way to keep track of appointments or deadlines by setting alerts up on the calendar in the telephone. Having an organized schedule helps a person feel a sense of direction and relief from stress. When a student is in a time crunch they should delegate tasks to others if possible. Doing this with one’s children can relieve stress off of the student while also teaching their children responsibility.
Learning to manage time will help adults with their relationships they have with their loved ones and also set an example for others to follow. The more one holds themselves accountable, the more respect they will earn from others. People are not born destined to become leaders; they must obtain values, morals, and ethics and live by them. (Osiemo, 2012) Managing emotions are a huge part of developing one’s personal and social responsibility. When a person learns their temperament and how to focus their emotions into positive results they have attained a huge goal that will lead to their success.
Anger is an emotion most people deal with at an early age but often have problems controlling. To gain control over one’s emotions a person must first recognize the emotion they are feeling. Then a person can learn effective ways to deal with the emotion that they are feeling. Some effective ways of dealing with one’s emotions are to write down their feelings or talk to others about them. Other people use activities such as sports to channel their emotions; furthermore others find doing physical work helps while also producing positive results. The ability to manage emotions becomes critical to effectively tackle social problems as we bring diverse backgrounds and perspectives to a variety of hot topics” (Braskamp & Chickering, 2009, p. 28). My plan for personal responsibility is first to manage my time better. I have found that if I take my lunch to work with me that I can use my hour lunch break for reading and studying. This way, I gain five hours of study time a week that does not take from the time I have with my family.
I have written down my short-term and long-term goals and am currently planning on checking my first short term goal off of my list which is finishing this class. I use my calendar at work to schedule my work assignments as well as my school assignments. I use my smart phone calendar to remind me of personal appointments and my children’s activities. I have a plan to incorporate my workout time in the evenings with my family at a local track where we can walk and run while we catch up on the day’s events. This likewise helps to relieve my stress and elevate my mood.
I have also set aside study time on the weekend mornings while my family is asleep. This allows me to spend most of my evening and weekend nights free for family time and to socialize. Another way I have learned to use my time in an efficient manner was to buy a headset that way on my hour and a half commute to work I can talk to my children. In conclusion, personal responsibility includes managing ones actions, goals, time and emotions. Learning to do this is not easy but well worth it, one will gain a sense of self accomplishment, as well as respect from others.
A person must learn values and ethics as well as how to manage their time and responsibility if they want to become a leader in society. Eleanor Roosevelt once said “In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility” (Goodreads Inc. , 2012). Bibliography Braskamp, L. A. , & Chickering, A. (2009). Developing a Global Perspective for Personal and Social Responsibility. Peer Review, 11(4), 27-30. Goodreads Inc. (2012). goodreads. com. Retrieved August 24, 2012, from Goodreads:
