What Is Personal Responsibility

Submitted By bluepiiiz
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Personal Responsibility
Toan Huynh
University of Phoenix Lisa Page GEN/200
Personal Responsibility
In order to become a better person in life, one must assume personal responsibility for their own actions. Personal responsibility simply put is assuming the consequences for one’s own actions. If a person does not assume responsibility for their actions, that person will not be able to learn from their mistakes. Personal responsibility however does not always have to carry a negative connotation. If a person does a good job, they should also assume the responsibility for it. This will make the person feel better about themself and will want to perform better in the future. In a team environment, when no one assumes personal responsibility for a mistake, the team will not know who to address the mistake with. The team then would have to backtrack on their work and try to address the issue thus losing valuable time. Owning up to one’s mistake in a team environment means that one is being a team player and willing to learn from one’s mistake.
At times, people do not want to assume responsibility for their own actions. A person can be blinded by their own views or personal biases that they do not feel like they have made a mistake. Conflict may arise in a team environment if the owner of the mistake does not own up to the mistake. If the mistake is pointed out by other members of the team, and the person making the mistake is unwilling to assume responsibility for it, team members cannot address the issue. This causes animosity among team members and there could be a breakdown in the team.
When a person is willing to assume personal responsibility for a mistake, that person is taking the first step to better themself. A mistake is only bad when people refuse to learn from it. Once a person learns from their mistakes, the mistake then becomes a lesson. Help can also be given to people willing to assume personal responsibility. Because that person has already taken the first step, that means they are willing to have an open mind and learning from it.
As stated before, personal responsibility does not always have to carry a negative connotation. Many people are successful in their lives because they have assumed responsibility for good deeds they have done. A good deed does not necessary mean that the person is a Good Samaritan. It can mean that they have taken responsibility for a good choice they have made in life. By doing this, they feel better about themselves and the actions they chose. This in turn can motivate them to create more positive actions. Take for instance a student that has invested a lot of time into studying for a test. The test comes back and the student has a good grade. In the future this student will be more likely to study because they know they can get a good grade by studying. People that assume these responsibilities can teach others how what they had to do to succeed. By learning from where others have succeeded, one can learn to be more successful.
In college, the student must assume responsibility for themselves. There are people willing to help the student through their college career but if the student does not ask for it, no one will know that help is needed. College prepares students to join the workforce or to better themselves through education. Though there are professors and peers that the student can rely on from time to time for