Afraid of responsibility, what to do

Responsibility, everyone has it to some degree and it's scary. Being afraid of responsibility is in itself a very normal emotion. Every time you take a step forward in your life, you may get or notice a fear of responsibility. This is very unfortunate because it can get in the way of opportunities to really improve your life.

To ensure that you do get the most out of your life, in this article I will discuss fear of responsibility and what you can do about it.

The meaning of responsibility

Responsibility means that someone has the care to take care of something or to control something and to take steps if something goes wrong during that care or control.

If you have responsibility over people, it often means you are in a leadership position where you manage people. An obvious example, for example, is an internship supervisor who ensures that the intern learns the practice of the trade and also learns from mistakes that are made.

Another example might be a physician responsible for treating patients. He must devise and possibly modify a treatment plan if studies show that treatment is not working.

Taking responsibility

Taking responsibility is very important, whether it is responsibility in your personal life or at work. Taking responsibility is necessary to "get back up" after mistakes.

In the doctor's examples, for example, taking responsibility is also drawing conclusions and then modifying behavior. For example, taking responsibility is also helping to raise your children.

Another form of responsibility is taking the blame. For example, if something has gone completely wrong and this is because you did not act correctly and did not have the right knowledge or insights for a task you can confess it.

You often see when this happens in politics people resign their positions, resign.

Taking blame as part of responsibility is something that makes people fear responsibility.

Sometimes just realizing that something is your fault is a form of taking responsibility.

Ownership

This is a concept that is still difficult for many adolescents to grasp. After all, when you do something, it has a consequence. What you do, the behavior you have, is ultimately your own responsibility.

You choose whether or not to do something. No one else can make that choice for you.

Especially for people who are prone to self-pity or want to blame other people for what happens to them in life. Self-responsibility can also involve people's own sense of responsibility.

In many cases, children under 18 are not yet legally responsible for choices they make, but after their ^18th birthday, a lot of responsibility suddenly falls on their plate.

Professional Responsibility

Professional responsibility is about who is responsible for what outcome of the business. For example, an intern usually bears no responsibility, but the intern supervisor is responsible for what the intern does.

This means that the intern's work must be reviewed by the supervisor.

It is important to have the responsibilities you have at work clearly written down. That way, you can prevent other people's mistakes from being held against you. In doing so, this also helps you make decisions about what work you should control and what things are not your responsibility.

In addition, for some business owners, it is important to have insurance against mistakes that harm your clients.

Continuing to learn for the right skills for your job is also part of professional responsibility.

Social responsibility

In addition to professional responsibility, there is also social responsibility. An example is being responsible for your children's behavior. Families with children usually have third-party insurance to pay for damages caused by children at play to third parties.

A person who cares for their loved one also takes on a social responsibility as a caregiver.

Too much responsibility

In some cases, fear of responsibility can also be caused by an excessive sense of responsibility.

For example, you may think that if a train derails while you're on it, it's important that you also save people, when you'll be lucky if you survive. Or you think you have to have children to guarantee pensions in the future.

Therefore, always check that your sense of responsibility matches the responsibility people ask of you.

Tips against fear of responsibility

One of the things people do when they fear responsibility is to seek validation for their fear. As a result, in addition to the fear of responsibility, you may also suffer from obsessive-compulsive behavior just to say, "See!"

Tip 1: Stop looking for proof that something always goes wrong

Of course you shouldn't ignore it when something goes wrong, but you also shouldn't set everything up so that it can only go wrong. Research shows that people who fear responsibility sometimes keep testing a scenario. Especially when people can blame you for something, everything is checked much more often than when the question of blame is less important.

Ultimately, you just have to do something.

So stop thinking about what could go wrong and just do something.

Tip 2: Check what responsibilities you have

If you can get a new position or help a family member by providing informal care, always check what responsibilities you have. With a new position, there is always a clear job description.

A caregiver can make clear arrangements with the person they care for about how much care they will provide. If this is in consultation with the municipality, there should also be something in writing so that you can also remind the municipality of their responsibility.

Tip 3: Check the beliefs you have about your own ability and whether this is true

Beliefs about whether or not you can do something are very influential in taking and accepting responsibility. If you fear responsibility, ask yourself why. Ask that question on each answer several times. For example, repeat it 3 to 5 times to really get to the core of your fear.

Then you find out right away if it makes sense or not. Then, if the fear does make sense, you know right away what problem you need to solve.

If you find it difficult to figure out these beliefs, a hypnotherapist can help you with this. This can be done, for example, through socratic questioning or regression therapy.

Tip 4: Make a list of all the things you can do for the work you do

Sometimes you have beliefs that are actually based on something completely unrelated to your work or social responsibility. If you fear responsibility because you feel you can't do what it takes to do the job well, it is important to boost your self-assurance.

One way to do this is to make a list of all the things you can do, such as.

• I can write well.
• I have compassion.
• I can make it clear to people what I want.
• I have the power to fire people if they don't listen to me.
• I have retrained enough to handle these tasks.
• I have a good relationship with my supervisor.
• I have visibility into what is happening in the process for which I am responsible.
• I can intervene in time if needed.

Tip 5: Visualize how you will act if something goes wrong

Sometimes people need to see they can do something before they truly believe they can do something. A good way to prepare yourself for responsibility is to visualize what that looks like. This can be done with guided visualization or unguided visualization with self-hypnosis.

Initially, it is important to relax. You do this by sitting or lying on your favorite chair, couch or bed. You then focus on your breathing and try to breathe evenly and calmly through your belly. Close your eyes and visualize: What might go wrong, how you stay calm and react when something goes wrong. What you do to fix the mistake and how you feel when you have done so. Visualize the movements you make and the people you talk to. For example, if you are a manager, you can visualize how you correct a mistake an employee made and give the employee feedback so it doesn't happen again.

Tip 6: Use mindfulness

This last tip is also incredibly important. With fear of responsibility, you can especially get thoughts of what could go wrong in the future. This makes it difficult to focus on the here and now.

If you do just that by using mindfulness you ensure that you suffer less from anxiety and do a better job.

Want to learn more about mental techniques against anxiety? Then come to a seminar or check out the Hypnosis Institute Netherlands' training courses on this site.

Sources:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0005791606000206