Personal Responsibility Essay

GEN 200 – Instructor: Mrs. Cecelia Weber
Due: 8/22/13
University of Phoenix

Personal Responsibility Essay
“If you want to be successful, you have to take 100% responsibility for everything that you experience in your life. This includes the level of your achievements, the results you produce, the quality of your relationships, the state of your health both mental and physical, your income, your debts, your feelings — everything!” (From "The Success Principles(TM) How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be" by Jack Canfield, Janet Switzer) Even though not identifying my short comings doesn’t guarantee failure, taking responsibility for my actions and acknowledging my personal responsibilities will be the cornerstone for my college success.
According to the dictionary, personal responsibility is defined as one’s ability to take care of oneself by means of, keeping healthy, managing ones emotions, keeping a sound mind and treating yourself with respect. This is true; however to me, I believe you have to identify a few more things. Personal Responsibility is taking responsibility for your actions, accepting the consequences that come from those actions and understanding that what you do impacts those around you. Not only does not accepting your personal responsibility impact those around you, it directly impacts your individual success or failure. Oddly enough it’s actually very simple. If we do what we need to do we are in control of our individual success. If we simply take ownership of a situation or a responsibility, we can have a positive impact on several aspects of our lives and individual success that possibly were not directly tied to the specific situation or responsibility.
According to U.S. Air Force PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY (2011), ”Often times there are people who always blame everyone else for things that happen to them or that the world is out to get them. These are normally the actions or reactions of people not taking personal responsibility for the choices they have made.”
Throughout my military career, I’ve personally witnessed an individual failing to take responsibility for their actions and the end result wasn’t favorable for them. They were passed up for promotions, special recognitions or failed college courses. The responsibilities ranged from things as simple as completing homework assignments to turning in vital financial paperwork. Therefore, accepting personal responsibility is the cornerstone for individual and college success.
The one thing that I’ve learned in life is that there is one person that is responsible for individual success and overall quality of life; that individual is you. A college education is one of the most rewarding and motivating things in life to me. With a college education, you can truly control your own destiny in so many ways. The same way that you can control your own destiny with a successful college education, you can control the ability to have a successful college education by accepting personal responsibility for your education. This opinion was re-enforced by a study conducted at Angelo State University in 2003.
“Different researchers have used different terms for personal responsibility, including self-control, conscientiousness, organization, and self-efficacy (Wolfe & Johnson, 1995)…. questions were designed to reveal students’ attitudes about responsibility and seeking a challenge, and responses to all…” (Whistler, Bliss Ali/Angelo State University, 2003, p. 4).
Failure to acknowledge your responsibility causes a lack of accomplishment and places you on the road to failure. In short, without personal responsibility you will not excel in your higher education. To truly quantify this you have to