In college, some situations may arise when you have to accept responsibilities. Some people are reckless and are ready to take up on it, but cannot carry it through. Others realize full well the potential of accepting it and all the bad outcomes that could come from it, so they consciously avoid it. Responsibilities can vary from something small like essay writing, to something big like becoming the head of the council and advocating for change. Nonetheless, taking up responsibility is as important as carrying it through to the end. This article will help you realize when it is necessary to tackle responsibility and the ways to do so the right way.
When Is It Necessary?
There may be different cases when you need to step up and take the initiative. Being responsible takes courage, because it becomes your duty to supervise and make sure nothing bad happens. Such thing is not a task for everyone, however, this should not lean you towards avoiding responsibility. Face your fear, and here are some cases when you should go for it.
Realize Potential
There are times when we do not know our true potential. If someone asks us to babysit a small child, become the group leader in a project or cook a meal for the whole family, we might want to decline as soon as possible and say that we cannot do it. However, if we start with some simple tasks such as these and say to ourselves, that yes, we can tackle it, and practice to carry out a good job, we can and we will carry it out greatly.
Step Up and Take Initiative
When you are responsible for something, it means that you are supervising the whole process. It is natural to dread this (learn more about this fear here), because good leadership and organizational skills are never rewarded, and people often take advantage of you and ask you to complete the work just for gratitude. Such a little number of activity clubs is often the result of that. This does not have to be the case at all times. If you really are passionate, you will find out that carrying out duties for a group of people can bring you unexpected kindness and endless rewards, providing you organize the activities in the right way.
Fight Injustice
If you witness something cruel or unjust happening, it is also your obligation to step up and point out the injustice. A lot of problems in the world are the result of passive bystanders. Even though they see injustice, they think fight it is not their concern. This could also be your chance to prove yourself worthy of responsibility.
Admit Your Faults
Sometimes responsibility does not mean grasping at the initiative or sacrificing yourself for the greater good. Admitting your mistakes also takes a great effort. Not everyone is capable of carrying the burden for their actions, and not only saying that they did wrong but stepping out of their comfort zone to reach out to those who they have wronged, or working on eliminating their flaws. If you have been caught cheating on an exam off your friend, you should apologize to the friend, admit it to your teacher and re-take the test, while studying harder for it this time.
How to Do It?
Now that you have realized your motives, dwell on how to tackle responsibility. Once you have motivation and know your goal, it can be less intimidating. Take the points below into account.
Conquer Your Fear
Mostly, people fear obligations and extra duties, because they think they will fail. At this point, you should realize that everyone makes mistakes. You could do a great job, and you could do a bad job. Nonetheless, if you do not do it at all, the chances of the job getting done are nonexistent. Stop being afraid of failure, and instead focus on making your enterprise a success.
List Your Strengths
If you are unsure if you are capable of taking care of a pet, becoming the TA at college, accepting the position of leadership in the group, you should list out your strengths. This could be hard to do, but try to recall some situations when your help was valuable. Even if you just came on time to a meeting, you could say that punctuality is your strength. Looking through the list will give you a positivity boost and will help you accept responsibility.
Who If Not Me?
The majority of us are the adepts of the mentality “Someone else can do it”. In order to make you more susceptible to accept extra duties, you can reverse the question to “Who if not me?”, and the change of perspective will help you greatly.