In today’s environment among a great many people I interact with on a cursory basis outside of my primary circle, there is a common thread woven through much of words I hear fall from their lips… And they boil down to one singular idea: I’m not responsible because…

I’m not responsible for being here on time because traffic was bad. It’s not my fault for missing my deadline because the guys in accounting didn’t get the reports to me in time. Don’t blame me for dinging your car, because you parked too close to the line… I’m not responsible because [insert your excuses or reasons here].

It can be maddening if you let it.

I have literally had people will look me straight in the face and tell me what they can do and when they can have it done, and then turn around and break their word without even so much as an acknowledgement or a commitment to regain any lost trust created in those moments.

I recently had a woman join my gym here in Phoenix, then later quit a few days from her renewal date. Cool. No problem… Yet she got upset when we charged her for the upcoming month. You see we don’t do contracts we simply ask for a 15 notice which is clearly notated on the documents she signed her name to… And, rather than openly discuss her issue with the charge, her first move was to dispute the charge with the credit card company and when that didn’t work, she decided to leave a 1 star review on our Google Reviews.

You see, according to her she shouldn’t be responsible for that last payment because her circumstances changed. And, because her circumstances changed, in her mind she was no longer on the hook for anything she agreed to.

Yet, I submit to you this, gentle listener… You are always responsible, because nobody gives a shit about your reasons for failure.

And, that is how it should be.