“Character — the willingness to accept responsibility for one’s own life — is the source from which self-respect springs.” ~ Joan Didion
In my book “Nail It”, I’m writing about the power of words and how you can use them as building blocks for designing your Sexy Second Act career or life. The words and phrases I chose for the book are ones that resonate with me. Each time a favorite word or phrase shows up, I have an opportunity to look more deeply into what it means and to share with you what I discover.
Lately, the word “responsibility” is frequently popping up. Here’s what I have to say about it in the book:
We humans are funny. We love to take credit for good stuff in our lives and we love putting the blame elsewhere for the bad stuff, our foibles, and the mistakes we make.
I’m not going to kid you. Responsibility sucks. The only thing that sucks worse than taking responsibility is not taking it.
It might be easier to look outside yourself for something or someone else to blame for how your life turned out, but doing so turns you into a victim. There’s nothing sexy or fun about that.
What makes responsibility sexy? Accepting it. Totally, completely, one hundred percent – like NO KIDDING!
Being responsible goes from being sexy to being bad-ass sexy on steroids when you take it to the level of loving it.
That means loving it no matter how something you are up to turns out. And if it doesn’t turn out, you’ve gotta love it enough to ask the hard questions.
- What’s the lesson to be learned?
- Did you do everything you knew how to do?
- Did you put yourself 100% into the game?
- What could you do differently in the future?
- What, if any, is the impact on others and how can you correct it?
Responsibility includes seeing perfection in the situation even if you perceive that it went badly. If you can look at yourself in the mirror knowing you did your very best, then the flip side of being responsible is accepting how it turns out.
If it goes well, celebrate! Be happy and grateful with the results.
If it doesn’t turn out like you wanted it to, then be grateful for the lesson. Believe in the possibility that you are in training to get ready for something even better, more exciting, and more fulfilling than you dreamed.
The best part is that taking responsibility gives you power. And everybody knows how sexy powerful people are!
Do you have a favorite word or phrase that gives you power? Share in the comments. And if you find this article was helpful, please share.