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JIMINY SELF-HELP HANDBOOK 5

2. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

2.1. Why We Need to Take Responsibility for Our Own Experiences?
Some entrepreneurs prefer to avoid their responsibility in different levels of their business and rather
transfer it to others (e.g. employees, costumer, business partners), due likely, the high pressure in
managing a business. Can a shop’s owner assume that the business is not doing well because soundly
the clients do not want to buy anymore its products or services? Or a market research should be done
before or even analysing the sales data in frequent periods of time to decide what needs to be
changed?

Failure goes hand-in-hand with success. Michael Jordan, the famous NBA basketball player, in an
interview for the newspaper Chicago Tribune, in 1997 said “I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my
career, I've lost almost 300 games, 26 times I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and
missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” This life example
shows well how success comes with taking responsibility for own experiences.

Recognising mistakes are lessons to learn and taking responsibility for actions and its consequences
reflects the ability to improve personal growth, move forward and succeed. Acknowledging
responsibility for own actions implies the awareness for choosing to react in certain ways or deciding
for a particular solution. And, most importantly, to assume it.

Life, at its simplest, is a continuous, simultaneous, parallel process of making decisions, either to
initiate action or respond to the environment. Taking personal responsibility for our thoughts and
actions is challenging and requires a willingness to learn from our mistakes, own our successes and
failures, stop externally excuse our circumstances and take internal control of our life.

Source: https://unsplash.com/photos/S0hFspmvm_s