Joe Sammartino
3 min readMar 23, 2021

Be F’n Responsible

There comes a time when society calls us to action, obligation really. It’s wake the fuck up or sink. Individual responsibility, is easily one of the most important concepts we can teach the youth. When we allow the youth to act in ways in which we do not like. We are letting children grow into adults that behave in ways that we do not like. Therefore, it is imperative to instill morals & values that transcend the mental developmental process. To optimize society educating the youth is advantageous.

Individual responsibility is taking extreme ownership. Essentially, everything is you’re fault. Late for work? Should’ve left earlier. Oh, you always leave at that time and it’s never an issue but this one time. Does not matter. Leave with enough time to anticipate traffic. Because, the thing about excuses, is that they’re all valid.

True champions of this game of life. Choose to rise above those excuses & succeed in their task. These champions do not use these excuses to shift blame. They accept that failure is the fault of the beholder. What is the alternative to not accepting extreme ownership? Extreme ownership puts the ball in the court of the individual. Living a life of accepting excuses as viable. Taints character & if excellence is habitual action. Then, perhaps undesirable qualities develop with practice. Letting ourselves take the easy way out. Letting ourselves live in forever comfort. Letting out of control events hold accountability in personal life’s. Is habitual practice of being behind the eight ball. This deteriorates agency & reinforces the comfort of not being at blame. Running away from the harsh feelings of fucking up is a disservice! Feel the hurt & do not forget. Remember what that suck feels like so you remember you do not want to feel that way again.

We can not live in Never Ever Land with Peter Pan forever. At some point we have to grow up. Unfortunately, those that do not feel the obligations from society the hardest. Hiding in the comfort of zero responsibility feels far too good. Again, unfortunately for these adult children the physical body ages with indicators that we can see. The brain however is much harder to determine what developmental stage it is at. These individuals having never learned the skills to accept this call of action are disadvantaged to the more qualified. Without accepting that responsibility of success is on the individual. The individual may be waiting for a miracle to upend hardship. It is through responsibility & discipline does life open up. Having an understanding that through responsible action the agent can influence the way the future unfolds to a degree. Being responsible breeds discipline. Being disciplined towards responsibilities structures life in a very timely & orderly manner. These actions organize the mind & potentially manifest much further than that.

Of course, no one has a crystal ball. How could everything be the fault of the beholder? Because the paradigm of extreme ownership leaves the possibility that the individual can improve & prosper. The alternative to extreme ownership is disempowering the capability of the individual.

The mind set of extreme ownership is quite powerful. A society where each individual is self reliant & compassionate. Is at an advantage over a mind set of uncontrollable influence & helplessness. Reliance or dependency has the potential to be damaging to the dependent agent. We are what we habitually do. Be excellent because the way we do anything is the way we do everything.

Joe Sammartino
Joe Sammartino

Written by Joe Sammartino

Degree holder of psychology and philosophy. World traveler. A creative of ideas just not physically creative.