Responsibility: the magic of self-leadership

Why am I born in this world?
What is the purpose of my life?
Why is there so much pain
in the world?
How do I change the world into
a better place?
Are there any answers?

Yes of course, there are answers. Before trying to find answers to the above questions, all what you have to do is to believe in your own capacity as a first step. The second is to become like a child in spirit, as well as in mind. For children the world is a place filled with wonder, each day bringing new knowledge and the anticipation of things yet learned. It is this same desire that you must place in your hearts. If you can accept these two truths, then you will have taken the first steps in finding your own way.

You will work your way up the ladder of life until you reach the point that you need to achieve. As a human-being, you must have a target or a goal to achieve. As per Harry Kemp, an American poet and prose writer of the twentieth century once quoted. “The poor man is not he who is without a cent, but he who is without a dream.”

Even if you do have a clear goal to achieve, unless you do have the following three most important factors, you will never be able to achieve your target. Those three factors are nothing other than desire, necessity and determination. Apart from these three factors, yet another most important aspect comes in to your life. That is the responsibility.

Educational goals

Responsible students exhibit a combination of successful attitudes,behaviour as well as intellectual capacity. In addition, they are responsible and active. On the other hand, they get involved in their studies, accept responsibility for their own education, and are active participants in it!

Responsibility means control. It is the difference between leading and being led. Your own efforts control your grade, you earn the glory or deserve the blame, and you make the choice. Active classroom participation improves grades without increasing study time. You can sit there, act bored, daydream or sleep. Alternatively, you can actively listen, think, question, and take notes like someone in charge of their learning experience. The choice is yours.

As a student, you should have educational goals and these goals should have legitimate goals and are motivated by what they represent in terms of career aspirations and life’s desires. One thing you must remember that your educational goals are truly yours, not someone else’s; they will motivate a vital and positive academic attitude.

Teachers are your teammates

Most teachers want exactly what you want -- they would like you to learn the material in the respective classes and earn a good grade. Responsible students reflect well on the efforts of any teacher; if you have learned your material, the teacher takes some justifiable pride in teaching. Have confidence with your teacher. They are not enemies. They will assign you a lot of homework. Sometimes it might be one assignment after another. Through continuous assessment, you will able to achieve your targets. You need to share the same interests with your teammates. Identifying the teammates who have the same interests is your responsibility.

Sitting at the back

I hate to sit at the back because I did want to minimise classroom distractions that interfere with learning. Another reason for not sitting at the back is that I wanted my teacher to know me by name and I wanted to be the teacher’s teammate. Then why do some students prefer to sit at the back. It is a sure bet to assume they chose the back of the classroom because they seek invisibility or anonymity, both of which are antithetical to efficient and effective learning. If such students are trying not to be part of the class, why, then, are they wasting their time?

Taking down good notes

Responsible students take down notes that are understandable and organised, and review them often. A short review of your notes while the material is still fresh on your mind helps you learn more. The more you learn then, the less you will have to learn later and the less time it will take because you will not have to include some deciphering time. The whole purpose of taking down notes is to use them, and use them often. The more you use them, the more you improve.

Understanding actions affect learning

Responsible and well-disciplined students know their personal behaviour affect their feelings and emotions which in turn can affect learning. It is proved in psychology that if any one act in a certain way that normally produces particular feelings, he will begin to experience those feelings. When you act like you are bored, and you will become bored.

There is no doubt, if you act like you are disinterested, and you will become disinterested. So how do you get away from these types of actions? Only solution that you should adopt is to act like an interested person: lean forward, place your feet flat on the floor, maintain eye contact with the teacher, nod occasionally, take notes, and ask questions. Not only will you benefit directly from your actions, your classmates and teacher may get more excited and enthusiastic.

Checking whether you know

Responsible and successful students get to know something well enough that they can put it into words.

Talking about something, with friends or classmates, is not only good for checking whether you know something; it is a proven learning tool. Transferring ideas into words provides the most direct path for moving knowledge from short-term to long-term memory. You really do not “know” material until you can put it into words. So, next time you study, do not do it silently. Talk about notes, problems, readings, etc. with friends, recite to a chair, organise an oral study group, pretend you are teaching your peers. “Talk-learning” produce a whole host of memory traces that result in more learning.

Do not cram for exams

Successful students know that divided periods of study are more effective than cram sessions, and they practice it.

If there is one thing that study skills specialists agree on, it is that distributed study is better than massed, late-night, last-ditch efforts known as cramming. You will learn more, remember more, and earn a higher grade by studying in four, one hour-a-night sessions for Friday’s exam than studying for four hours straight on Thursday night. Short, concentrated preparatory efforts are more efficient and rewarding than wasteful, inattentive, last moment marathons. Yet, so many students fail to learn this lesson and end up repeating it repeatedly until it becomes a wasteful habit.

Take responsibility for your own success

My point here is that you must take the responsibility for all your actions. It all starts here. You must become the master of your own ship, first. A victim of circumstances is a person who refuses to take responsibility for the situation they are in. Someone or something else is always to blame. “I am not rich because my parents have died without leaving me a fortune.” It is a very common statement majority of unsuccessful people utter. What a false statement is that. Turn the problem upside down and place yourself in the position of responsibility. “I am not rich because I have not done what is necessary to become rich.” Come that way. Now you are correct.

A sense of responsibility is the basic characteristics required to maintain the right attitude for success and excellence.

Responsibility in another way is nothing more than being able to respond to people, places and things. It is respond ability.

Without taking responsibility, you cannot make the world better for you.

By taking responsibility you have empowered yourself. However, the problem with being empowered is that when things go wrong or when the results are not happening quite as fast as you would like or when people do not live up to your expectations ... when things go wrong, you have no excuse. No body and nothing to blame. Then who is it? It is just you. It is nobody’s fault. Nevertheless, it is solely and only YOUR responsibility.

As an individual, you have many responsibilities- they are as very common such as brushing your teeth, washing your clothes, as instinctive as eating and drinking, and, as creative as solving a problem. Please remember that you are responsible for your own attitudes. When everything is going smoothly, you are sure to accept this responsibility. When things are going the other way, however, you also become responsible for getting over it.

You need to believe in the magic of self-leadership.

The only way in which anyone can lead you is to restore to you the belief in your own guidance. - Henry Miller

Pure honesty towards yourself and your life

Whenever you have taken yourself some time to reflect on your life, it is essential that you are completely honest towards yourself. Ask yourself the question, if you are living - in this moment - the life you have always dreamt of, the life you envisioned as a little child, the dream that has evolved throughout your whole life and had become more and more detailed with every day of your life. Ask yourself if you are happy with your personality, your job and the way you live in general.

Are you the creator of your life, do you take control over your life, are you responsible for your actions or have you switched to your role as a victim and the one who only reacts towards other peoples actions? Are you living your life with excitement and amazement, curious to discover the deepest depths of life, or do you rely on television to stimulate and entertain you for a given period? Is your life a routine or a daily changing adventure?