Many of the world’s greatest athletes have one thing in common. They take responsibility for their actions. Often, those who fail to take responsibility for their actions and try to blame others lack self-esteem. Having strong self-esteem can allow you to master your craft and be independent. Having strength in these traits can help us become more aware of the actions we take and what the possible outcome might be. Developing the ability to take responsibility also requires us to surround ourselves with supportive people who can help hold us accountable for our actions and those we can go to when we question our abilities. Here are some quick tips on how you can improve your ability to take responsibility:
- Become Self-Aware: We discussed this at length in our last Character Development Series blog. Putting in the work to become more self-aware about how your actions impact others is enormous in taking responsibility for your actions. Knowing how your actions or reactions affect others will help you take accountability for them and ensure that you don’t make the same mistakes in the future.
- Have a Growth Mindset: In taking responsibility, developing the right attitude is huge. A growth mindset will keep you from diving into the road of “I can’t” or “I won’t.” It helps remind you that learning new things takes time and that moving away from what you know is okay to help the team. It will help improve the attitude we bring to the field daily.
- Be a Role Model: Your teammates, coaches, parents, scouts, and others often watch you both on and off the field. It becomes easier to think about your actions and take responsibility when you know others are watching. Mistakes will happen, but taking responsibility for them is an excellent first step in showing others the correct route. That can bleed over into the rest of your team.
- Take Ownership: Take ownership of your actions. You can control very few things on and off the field. The items you can control every day are your attitude and effort. Take ownership of those two things. You get to control what kind of teammate you want to be. Are you going to be supportive and help others grow? Or will your actions be self-fulfilling and not allow the rest of the team? Are you going to bring 100% every day or take a back seat since something didn’t go your way? Don’t let external factors control your attitude and effort. Own them.
Taking responsibility can be challenging. Many of us don’t like to admit when we are wrong. Especially in sports. Taking the time to become more self-aware and finding opportunities to learn how our actions impact others can help make it easier to take responsibility and improve our attitude. Knowing that others around us are watching can help motivate us to be role models and responsible for our actions. Finally, knowing that we can take ownership of our attitude and effort allows us to focus on those factors we can control and not adhere to outside noise. We can always grow and become better people and teammates. It’s always possible to start growing within.
