[April 20, 2022] It’s your turn in the “box.” Be responsible. Get off your butt and move on with your life.
Decision time. Either you choose full responsibility for your life, or you don’t. There are no maybe, kinda, or half-measures; this is an all-or-nothing idea. Life is about having a family, friends, a job (or school), plans for time outside of work, and good physical and mental health.
You should possess most of these, but if you don’t have any of them, all you have left is pain and suffering. With a proper goal in your life, which you want to strive for while you are young, you have an aim, and what you do is oriented toward it. If you adopt responsibility, you have made a conscious decision and are admitting to the world that it’s your time in the “box.”
Adoption of responsibility means having clear, measurable life goals, and while those goals may change – our preferences can morph over time – we should embrace the real-world fact we might fail. There is real fear in adopting this strategy. It means knowing the conditions of failure, like not having a job or family or money. It explains why so many resist specifying our goals.
We don’t like to clarify conditions for failure because it is so painful. Better, we sometimes think, to remain willfully ignorant and infant-like. The problem is, in that case, we will fail all the time; we just won’t know it until we fail so badly that our life is over. And that can quickly occur by age 30 or 40. Imagine a 30-year-old infant, and their life is over.
The question that follows is, how can you be productive and live a good life?
Be specific about what you want and set up those things you need to do to get the things you want. Perhaps you will not hit these things – these intermediate goals – all the time. Maybe you hit them only 50% of the time. That’s okay because, over time, you will get better, and maybe tomorrow or next week, you can achieve 51%.
Do not be consumed by falling short of your goals. Keep at it. People with goals succeed because they know where they’re going. If you don’t have an aim, you will get there 0% of the time. If you’re alive and genuinely want to be an upright, valuable person to yourself, your family, and your community, then grasp responsibility and be content that it’s your time in the “box.”
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Please read my new book, “Our Longest Year in Iraq,” on Amazon (link here).
Aim high even if you need to get there one step at a time.. It’s so worth it.
Even a small step in the right direction is a good step. Always aim for the best. Well said, Armywife.
It takes courage. It can be scary to accept your failures, but creating a sense of internal dishonesty can lead to irritation. However, if you are able to build the courage that you need to accept your failures, you will be demonstrating personal responsibility.
Much has been written on personal responsibility and all the written words say essentially the same thing. That responsibility is necessary for a good life. What Gen. Satterfield is saying, I think, is that even if you fail at what you know you need to do, keep at it. 51% is better than 50% which is always better than zero. And, zero is where many young folks are at today.
Too bad that our young are being taught to give up their responsibility becuase others are “smarter” and are “experts.” Why trust yourself when you doubt yourself. Trust the government, they know how to be ‘responsible.” Yeah, right.
8 Qualities of Someone Who Has a Sense of Personal Responsibility
https://www.developgoodhabits.com/personal-responsibility/
Great message for young folks (and maybe us older folks too).
“Be specific about what you want and set up those things you need to do to get the things you want. Perhaps you will not hit these things – these intermediate goals – all the time. Maybe you hit them only 50% of the time. That’s okay because, over time, you will get better, and maybe tomorrow or next week, you can achieve 51%.”
A gold nugget. Put it in your “leadership rucksack.”
For those new to this website, Janna has made a good point. Read this website for its basic layout of what makes you a better leader and better person. thanks Janna.
Exactly! ✔
People will accept responsibility when they see it is to their advantage. When government says they will support you, then the incentives are gone.
Another excellent post from the bunker of Gen. Satterfield (a bit of humor there). As I sit in my bunker (my living room with my dog and a cup of coffee), I read this blog every day. Each time, I find that I learn something new or build upon info I already know. That is what reading and thinking is about. This leadership blog helps. Become a regular reader and find out how much you can learn.
Sadako Red, thanks for the comment (spot on!!!!!). I hope you are writing a new article, I’m always happy to read what you are writing. 👍👍👍👍👍
Gen. Satterfield, thank you for a much-needed article. I think the very people who need to read this are out partying and playing video games in their parent’s basement. The last thing they are doing is trying to improve themselves.
No body is interested in personal responsibility any more, that’s so passé. Just trust the experts in the govt. They know how to take care of THE PEOPLE.
Commie, I cannot figure out if you are being sarcastic or not. Let us know.
Sarcasm. No one is that stupid.
We gave up on communism long ago, Marxist communism is an abject failure. Look at the history of the 20th century. And, its sister neo-Marxism is just as bad. Rejecting responsibility does not end well.
Maybe you’re wrong. Some folks can adopt a simple ideology because they are a personal failure and one that allows them to reject personal responsibility is an easy way out.