Alright, so one outcome I promised you coming out of this program was total personal responsibility. It’s a biggie. I understand you might be thinking, “I already shoulder a heavy load, and I’m too serious as it is. How can I be more responsible than I already am?”
Take a look at how you communicate. How often do you:
- Respond to your boss’s query: “how are you?” with “I’m crazy busy,” followed by a breathless litany of things that aren’t going well for you?
- Stew about your inconsiderate client who always calls you on Friday afternoon to ruin your weekend with eleventh-hour requests?
- Gripe that you are working so much harder than the brown-nosing jerk across the hall who just got promoted?
This is complaining. So, what’s that got to do with personal responsibility?
- Complaining and whining are ways we avoid taking responsibility.
A lot of informal chatter around the office is actually a form of complaining. We’re talking everyday conversations, including those you have with others and those you have with yourself (i.e., your inner thoughts). Start to notice during your day how many conversations and thoughts contain complaints, griping, whining, kvetching, or gossip.
