Personal Responsibility
July 26, 2014
GEN/200

Personal responsibility in my opinion is something we choose to put into action. It’s a personal decision that we choose to do, to be successful. In order to be successful not only in everyday life but for college success, it takes discipline, good time management skills and being accountable for all successes and failures. It takes drive to make things happen that will lead to college success. It is our own decisions and actions that we make that will lead to the level of success we achieve. Only you can determine what you are willing to achieve and the actions you take to make it possible. "Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end. It's not a day when you lounge around doing nothing; it's when you've had everything to do, and you've done it” (Thatcher, 2012, para. 1).
In order to be successful, not only for everyday life but for college success, we need to learn discipline. It involves acting according to what you think rather than how you feel in the moment. It may be difficult, but it often means making sacrifices of pleasure or thrill in the moment. For example, you may prefer to go out one night and have fun with your friends, rather than to get started on a paper due in a few days. Which one is more important? In order to be disciplined, we should set goals, whether they’re short term goals or long term goals, we should plan and aim for them. Setting goals is a powerful process for thinking about our ideal future, and a drive for motivation in making them into a reality. After all, motivation is what will keep us thriving to be successful and make it through school. A few of my goals during my time in school are to graduate on time, pass all my classes, and to work and study hard to make it possible. Another way to be disciplined is setting and staying on a schedule. My preliminary plan for college success is to plan ahead, determine how much time is needed on school work and stick to it. “Time management appears to be an issue in almost everyone's lives as there never seems to be enough time in the day to complete all of the day-to-day tasks” (Campbell, 2006, para.1).Good time management skills are needed in order to have college success. It is important to have all work done on time, so studying a little each day and participating in class assignments is vital to achieve good grades. It can be easy to get off track. Sometimes time may seem to drag or fly by, depending on what we’re doing. Time is on our side and we have the capability to create it ourselves, and anything we create we can manage. Some tips on managing our time is having a planner, and scheduling all activities for the week and keeping track how much time is being spent. Have a to-do list, and put the important priorities at the top of the list. It helps to get an early start on an assignment, rather than waiting for the last minute to start it. Schedule breaks in between; it helps to get away, even if it is for a little bit of time. Block out distractions. I have been guilty of turning my television on and getting side tracked, I get so interested in what I am watching that I lose time away from school work. Cell phones, Facebook, any social media, or music are also major distractions. My preliminary plan to improve my time management is to find a quiet area to focus, so I’m not easily distracted and I stay on schedule in completing my work and studies.
Holding ourselves accountable, is taking ownership of our actions,