From “No Limits” by John Maxwell
- The size of the opportunity requires the same amount of responsibility.
- Opportunity is lost when responsibility is neglected.
- Tomorrow’s opportunity is determined by yesterday’s responsibility.
I know for me that I find myself asking why people do not take responsibility for their actions, reactions, progress, lack of progress, results, or lack of results in their lives. It seems that our current culture has slipped into the blame game as our response to almost everything has become, “It wasn’t my fault!” They were out for me from the start! I never had a chance anyway! Things never work out for me! Hold up! John reminds us that our level of responsibility is the catalyst for where we can go in our impact and journey.
“Tomorrow’s opportunity is determined by yesterday’s responsibility.” Wow, great insight. I know the Good Book tells us that we reap what we sew. It makes total sense that if I was responsible for the project and the outcome and owned the results or lack of results and learned what to do better next time, that I might get another chance. Taking responsibility for my actions, results and reactions create the kind of circumstance we all want to be a part of. It also is an indicator of our Emotional Maturity (E.Q.) and where we are on being big enough and strong enough and confident enough to take responsibility, criticism, or failure, and look at what we can do to change the results next time. The results are not personal. We do not set the criteria of our value or worth because of the results from some activity, task, or project.
So let’s step up. Let’s raise our hand. Let’s be accountable. Let’s be responsible. Let’s take whatever opportunities come across our path and put our best foot forward. Let’s put in our maximum effort. Then, let’s take whatever results we get. Own it. Take responsibility. Learn from it and look for the next opportunity to apply what we learned, do a better job and then take responsibility for those results as well.
You got this! Maybe read Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman and see where you are on your journey to even greater results and greater opportunities. (https://www.danielgoleman.info/books/emotional-intelligence/)
Order a copy of my book “Choices” to help unpack the next steps in your journey. https://www.choiceconsultingman.com/choices/