Future Responsibilities! Have You Planned for Them All?

In the modern world, there’s a big emphasis on responsibility. But when the discussion takes place it’s often about the responsibilities that we have going on now in our current lives. If not now then responsibilities we’ve had in the past. What’s seldom addressed is the responsibilities we will have in the future. And more importantly, the responsibilities we will have once we achieve our goals. This week in Deeper Thoughts I’m going to go over some examples involving responsibility that come up when you get what you want. This way you can be aware of things to expect as you align yourself with your goals.

What do I mean when I say future responsibilities? In short, it’s the responsibilities that come along with your success. We tend to think of the goal itself and not what we’ll have to do to maintain it. Your responsibilities may change, you might have less of them, or you might keep the ones you have now, but have more piled up on top of them. Let me show you what I mean.

You’re at work and you want that big promotion that’s available. You work hard and you get it! Congratulations! Did you plan on being responsible for creating schedules? What about leading a team? Are you ready to take on the responsibility and be held accountable if that team doesn’t meet their deadlines?

Let's say you finally strike out and start your own business! Did you think about the responsibility of hiring the right employees for your fledgling business? And did you think about payroll? Did you realize the major responsibility of paying taxes? Are you gonna do it or are you gonna hire someone to do it for you? What about marketing and advertising? Are you going to do all these things or hire someone else to be responsible?

When you start dating someone eventually there are questions of responsibility that arise (or at least they should if you hope to make it last.) Who’s responsible for paying for dates? Who’s supposed to make the other feel safe? Who’s providing who with containment? You’re both responsible for communicating clearly. You have to know what each other’s needs and wants are. You need to understand how your significant other receives love. 

Once you two move in together and/or get married there are more responsibilities added to the list. Who pays the bills? Are you both working and contributing or is it one person? Who is responsible for upkeep of the home? Who does the cooking? Who fixes things?

And then the beautiful day finally comes. You become parents! Who is responsible for taking care of the kids? Who is going to take them to practice and school activities? Who takes them to doctor visits? These are all responsibilities that most people don’t think about when their original goal is getting that first date. These are examples of how those responsibilities can be added to over time.

But now let’s look on the opposite side of that coin. We live in a world of duality, right? There are times in our lives where making unwise choices lead to unexpected, and even unwanted responsibility. This is usually due to making unconscious choices, such as when we’re in heightened states of frequency (happy, angry, anxious, depressed etc.)

You have a rough day at work, and decide to unwind at the bar. You’re already in a bad mood and there’s that one annoying guy that is obnoxious and keeps coming back and bothering you. Your temper gets the best of you and you get into a fight and police get involved. Now you have court and attorney fees you’re responsible for paying as well as anger management classes that you’re responsible for attending and paying for. You might now be responsible for hospital bills because you roughed that other guy up pretty bad. Possibly you may be extra unlucky and have to go to a few AA meetings too. All because your anger got the best of you and you didn’t think about what would happen after a fight was over with.

Another example is you go on a date with a girl. Things are heating up and you wind up in the bedroom with her. You were expecting a one and one kind of deal, until she calls you and tells you she’s pregnant. Now you’re faced with the responsibilities of being a father figure, or at the very bare and bottom of the barrel, paying child support for the next 18 years. You weren’t planning on that during those few minutes of pleasure, were you?

And then there’s the opposite side of this example is if you’re the woman in the scenario. Did you expect the new responsibilities of motherhood and all it entails when you decided to give into a night of passion? 

Say you get caught in an affair? Think of the divorce attorney fees, alimony, child support, etc. that come along with it. What about the psychological damage to your children? The abandonment issues that stem up from them and your spouse? That's a lot of responsibilities you didn't plan on for that are now yours.

These are just a fraction of the examples of the way responsibilities come up as we acquire success as well as those we don’t expect from not making conscious choices.  Many times we are so focused on a goal itself that we fail to consider all that comes along with that goal. Any time we get something we want we have to be aware of all that potentially comes along with it. There’s always new things we need to do when we get to the next level. So just remember when you’re planning on the next goal, research and consider the responsibilities that it may entail. Part of being successful is knowing and preparing for what it takes to maintain that success and avoiding things that can affect you later on down the road. 

Thank you for once again reading. As always, please have an enlightening day.