PERSONAl RESPONSIBIlITY IS ThE FOUNdATION OF SUccESS

Chapter 21

PoneRs Al

ResPonsIBIlItY

Is the FoUnDAtIon

oF sUCCess

By peter neeVes

I was electrocuted when I was eighteen. It was the summer between my
freshman and sophomore years at college and I was doing a mainte-
nance project on a building at work. Accidently my left hand came into
contact with a one hundred amp main service into the building. The cur-
rent caused the muscles to lock up and I could not let go. The electricity
passed through my upper body and exited out my back which was in
contact with a metal pole. I was stuck for about a minute, it seemed like
hours. The near-death experience changed me. I became aware that we
never know how much time we have; that we are responsible for what
we do with our lives – completely responsible; personally responsible.
Across the following years I thought a lot about that, and studied how
others view personal responsibility as I explored this concept and what
I was to do with my life, how I was to be my best.

Personal responsibility is about the choices we make. There is no other
single factor which influences our success to a greater degree than per-
sonal responsibility. We have varying degrees of talent and ability, but
personal responsibility will beat talent every time. Success is ours if we
own it, if we are responsible for it, personally responsible for it.