Today we are notorious for blaming others for our mistakes. It’s never our fault. Think of all the countless stories you hear that faults society somehow someway. For example, right now, we are going through a drug epidemic. We blame doctors, pharmaceutical companies, foreign countries, poor border control, etc. However, you don’t see anyone blaming the drug addicts. Where is their responsibility in this equation? They are the ones that are putting the illegal drugs into their bodies. It puzzles me that no one is talking about their accountability. Yes, you can say mental health is associated with this, but you can prevent most of that if you take care of your mental state. Of course, there are disease processes beyond one’s control, and I’m not referring to those. This is hard to swallow because you want to protect that population and say it isn’t their fault, but in all fairness, it is.

Another rising issue – is the obesity crisis. By 2025 over half of the US population will be considered overweight. First off, is that even politically correct to say? We become so sensitive that we can’t even talk about facts anymore and call it what it is. We can’t fix problems if we can’t even discuss them. I was blown away by an article recently debating how we will overcome obesity in this country. No, it wasn’t about us changing our eating habits or exercising; it was taking a pharmaceutical. A GIP/GLP-receptor agonist to curb one’s appetite. This is not a long-term solution; you must change one’s behavior, which goes back to accepting responsibility for the problem. We are overtaxing our healthcare system right now because of society’s lack of desire to eat healthier.

You will never fix these social issues if you don’t start with the person that is making the poor choice in the first place. What created this trend? Is it because we expect so little from people? I think so. Plus, if you go back over the last two decades, government programs that were expected to help people drove dependency versus assisting people during hardship. We forgot about the human nature of people when we created these programs. Yes, it made us feel good, but we are enabling them. I’ve been a donor to human services organizations for quite some time. They are in the trenches doing tremendous work, but what is frustrating is the lack of results. For example, what is the statistic on someone coming off drugs and becoming a productive citizen?

Look at our education system, where most of our problems start. Students must accept responsibility for their education as their future depends on it. Often, we hear parents complain about the teachers or principals being too hard on their kids and that their child is being singled out for bad behavior. Kids need structure, rules, and consequences. In my generation, things were different; if we got in trouble at school, we had to face the fallout at home too. Don’t be one of those parents who blame the school for their kids’ actions. It’s a sign to act. Find out where the behavior stems from, be bold, and ask for help. 

The demise of personal accountability has slowly shifted society to feel helpless when we all hold the key to our success. If we allow ourselves to own our mistakes and failures, we become better human beings. When you are more accountable for your actions, you’ll likely reflect on what went wrong and take steps to improve. There are many other benefits, it boosts self-confidence, keeps you focused, makes you humble, helps you make tough decisions, builds relationships, enables you to be disciplined, and preserves morals and values. We need to prioritize the importance because our lives will advance. This is also one of the many reasons we face a mental health crisis because we all need to feel valued and have self-worth. You lose that if you don’t have personal accountability.  You see, the only person not winning in this equation is YOU!!! The big winner is the government; we are driving towards a socialistic country.

I remember being told mistakes can be your best friend because it’s one of the best learning tools. If you can’t recognize your faults, you are sentencing yourself to a lifetime of failure. You see, success is a series of corrected failures. Once you acknowledge and correct, the sooner you will reach your destination. So, it’s okay to admit your failures and own up to let yourself win and not the government.