It can be hard taking full responsibility for a situation when it doesn’t feel like it was completely your fault. There might be someone else that could have caused a problem to the situation, timing might have been off, lack of communication between two parties, etc. Whatever the excuse you are putting in your head, it is time to own up to them.
As we grow older in age, we take on more responsibility. You might get a more demanding job, help around the house more, start to teach others what we know, start to care about our diets/exercising without a coach telling us what to do, taking more serious classes at school, etc. This means you are starting to take responsibility for yourself, thoughts, behaviors, and actions. If nothing comes to mind right now, that is okay! Let’s start by making this simple.
How to take responsibility for your actions:
- Be honest with yourself. The easiest thing to do is lie to ourselves. We might say in our head “I’ll do it later.” Well later turns to tomorrow, tomorrow turns into next week, next week turns into next month, etc. Don’t keep pushing it back and telling yourself it is going to get done sooner or later. Tell yourself, ‘I’ll do it now!”
- Make less excuses. The more excuses we make on why we shouldn’t do it right now, the less likely mental growth is going to happen. Excuses become our enemy and they are hard to shake if you keep them around long enough. If you end up making an excuse to do something, right after give yourself 3 reasons why you should do that action. You will see the benefits and be more likely to complete the task.
- Nothing is more “special” than others. If you make an activity more special than the other, the other activity will not look fun to complete at all. Think of the things you enjoy from both activities. Let’s say the two activities are cleaning your room and helping mom with the dishes. Both seem like dreadful chores, but you rather clean your room over helping mom with the dishes. Why do you rather clean your room? It might be because you feel clean and organized once it’s done. Why do you like helping mom with the dishes? It might be because you get a break from school work and get to have some 1-on-1 family time with your mom.
- Take control. It can be easy to forget why you started something in the first place. Let’s say you decided to wake up early Monday, Wednesday, & Friday to workout before school. Well last week, you accidentally slept in Monday & Wednesday. Instead of waiting until next week to get it right, go in early Tuesday, Thursday, & Friday to make up the days you missed. Take control and follow thru!
- Don’t Blame others. It is so easy to point the finger at someone else and walk away from the problem. Point the finger and turn your hand to point at yourself. The only person you should blame, is yourself. Own up to your mistakes and learn from them. No one else is going to fix your life and take your responsibilities. You shouldn’t feel bad for blaming yourself either. This is just a way for you to learn, move forward, and be successful in the end!
What are your excuses and how are you going to take on responsibility for your basketball career, academics, and daily life? Think of at least types excuses you might tell yourself in each category. Once you do that, then create three statements in each category. Start these statements with “I take responsibility for…”. Everytime you make that excuse, you have a statement to convert the excuse to promising actions.
Written by:
Sarah Grippi
Basketball Mindset