Lesson 33 Responsibility

Coaching for College Students

Lesson 33 – Taking responsibility

Do you take responsibility for 100% of your life?  Put that as a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ question.

Maybe you take 90% - and can blame your parents, your teachers, your school, your environment, your country, your language and other things for the last 10%.  That sounds reasonable don’t you think?

This looks at the concept of blaming others. 

Scenario:  “My parents didn’t give me the things I need to learn” (like?  A computer?  A smartphone?  Sending you to summer computer camp?  Buying you the top-of-the-line clarinet (or trumpet, or bike or car or other)?

Continuing the scenario – maybe they (your parents) brought you so far in life and maybe they didn’t provide ‘all the things you wanted’ .  So, what is missing?  A computer?  Get a parttime job, save up and get your computer?  A top-of-the-line computer?  You can work longer and harder to get that. 

You can’t expect to get what you want from parents (or others).  Take responsibility.

Scenario 2:  “I wanted to be an engineer.  But, when I applied at Purdue for their engineering program, I didn’t get accepted.  It was because I had a bad high school physics teacher.” 

So … did you get accepted to any engineering programs?  Malcolm Gladwell talks of the ‘Big Fish, Small Pond” effect – see: http://news.bitofnews.com/malcom-gladwells-mindblowing-theory-on-why-its-better-to-be-a-big-fish-in-a-small-pond/.  If Purdue only accepts (say) 1000 students for their engineering program – and you are accepted – but would be (say) number 990  - you’d be fighting for all you can get.  Resources?  Lab time?  Working with a professor?  There are others that might have better pedigrees than you.  What if you go to the University of Southern Indiana – and there you could be one of the top engineering students – and get more resources, more lab time, more opportunity to work with a professor / mentor. 

But … don’t blame others – take responsibility.

There are MANY (MANY, MANY) great engineers, lawyers, doctors, etc. who were NOT accepted to their top choice of colleges – and they rose up above that.  They worked harder, they took responsibility to learn what maybe they didn’t learn in high school or in classes.

So, are you ready to take 100% responsibility now?

Problems:

Are you taking 100% responsibility?  Why not if you are not?  What is holding you back?

Who are you blaming?  Did “luck” not go your way?

Quote:  “There is an expiry date on blaming your parents for steering you in the wrong direction; the moment you are old enough to take the wheel, responsibility lies with you.” By J.K. Rowling