Responsibility Eliminates Distractions
In a world where everyone is distracted, the more responsibility is put on us, the less we will be affected by the world’s distractions. Here is how.
The people of the world today are more distracted than ever. Many people of the world today walk around with no purpose or direction in life, and thus distract themselves with hedonistic pleasures. The instant gratification culture of today’s world, as seen through fast food and social media, has created a world populated with people with short attention spans. And as more and more people lose their way, and as distractions become better at catching our attention, we take less and less responsibility for ourselves and for our lives.
The role of responsibility in our lives is crucial for our wellbeing and mental health. Being irresponsible means that you are not accountable to anyone. Not to yourself, not to other people, not to God. This means that there are no repercussions no matter what you do. You can do whatever you want and can move in any direction you want. You can be distracted and moved off-path in a multitude of ways.
The core of your life is your purpose. Everything in your life, from your diet to your career, must be aligned with your purpose if you are to act with coherence and integrity in the world. If you know your purpose, your deepest desire, then the secret of success is to discipline your life so that you support your deepest purpose and minimize distractions and detours.
-David Deida (The Way of the Superior Man)
Moving in every direction is moving without a goal, a motive. It is moving without purpose. Going everywhere is the fastest way to go no-where. Many people live this way. They move about life with no direction and/or purpose. They don’t know where they are going, nor do they really care that much, and as a result, without a Northern Star to follow, they follow their own unstable personal whims and instant gratification activities, moving in circles day after day. Such is a life without purpose.
However, purpose leads to fulfillment, and purpose can only come when we move in a single direction. Knowing that the direction we are moving in, the path we are taking, is a worthwhile path, is what gives life meaning. When we are living in a purposeful manner, we feel that our lives matter, and our efforts will have an impact on not only those around us, but the world as a whole. Purpose is our reason for existing, and the fulfillment of our purpose leads to us using our God-given gifts to serve the world. When we are giving value and serving others, we are truly fulfilling our life purpose.
Feeling that we are called to accomplish something is the most positive way for us to supply this sense of purpose and direction.
-Robert Greene (Mastery)
So how do we serve others, provide value, and bring our gifts to mankind? How do we fulfill our purpose? Well, we take responsibility for ourselves and the people around you. We take up the burden of responsibility and move forward with our load. The world needs our gifts, the people need our gifts, so we gift them with our efforts. We take responsibility for our family, our friends, our community, our organizations, and our nations. We take responsibility for our physical and mental health, our finances, our careers, our relationships, our hobbies. It is our God-given duty to take responsibility for all things in our world given to our care.
In fact, the Bible states the following about carrying the burden of responsibility:
Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me
Matthew 16:24
Jesus is saying that to be God’s servant, you must bear your cross. Meaning, you must bear the responsibility of living righteously and following God’s commandments. You must take responsibility for your salvation. Truly, taking responsibility will purify your soul and make you a much better person.
Much like the world today, the burdens we face daily will never end. However, we become better people when we take up responsibility for ourselves and others. When we fully invest our time into fulfilling our duties in life, we have no time for anything else, because we are driven by a higher, more glorious purpose. The more responsibility you have, the less likely distractions will derail you.
You are only as strong and extraordinary as you give yourself reason to be. So determine your musts, my friend. Make them real. Feel them in your gut. Because the world needs you to show up now.
-Brendan Burchard (High Performance Habits)
Responsibility, purpose, and duty will take up your mind, day in and day out. You will constantly be thinking about your duties, and how you can become better at fulfilling them and achieving your personal goals. How can you progress in your career and get that promotion? How can you build more assets and achieve more wealth? How can you improve your diet, sleep and exercise regimen for your health? How can you make your romantic partner more attracted to you and more emotionally fulfilled?
When you think, plan and strategize all-day everyday about how you will fulfill you responsibilities and life purpose, you won’t have anymore mental energy to think about distractions or quick pleasures, such as social media or video games. When you act swiftly and make moves to achieve your goals, and you are in constant forward movement 24/7, you won’t have anymore physical energy to involve yourself in distractions or vices, like drinking or late night partying.
To have an impulse and to resist it, to sit with it and examine it, to let it pass by like a bad smell — this is how we develop spiritual strength. This is how we become who we want to be in this world.
-Ryan Holiday (Stillness is the Key)
It is hard to be distracted by Facebook or Instagram when you are a positional leader and your team needs your guidance and leadership, because you will be too focused on solving your team’s problems, guiding your team towards the team goals, launching new projects for your team, and upskilling your leadership, communication, public speaking, and negotiating skills.
It is hard to want to play video games or involve yourself in mindless gossip when your finances are in disarray and you have bills to pay, because you must generate more cashflow from your financial assets and make moves so they won’t become liabilities while also reading books and taking up online courses to upskill yourself in your career so you can command a pay rise later down the track.
It is hard to be interested in the politics of a distant country or the latest movies in pop culture when you are gaining belly fat and losing muscle, because you will desire to hit the gym even harder the next opportune time, while at the same time coming up with a new training regimen to make your gym sessions more efficient. Not to mention you will be even more intensive in the planning of your diet because you are sick and tired of having no energy throughout the day. Or instead of diving into useless gossip, you would be trying to catch up on valuable sleep.
It is hard to be distracted by random comments on Twitter or dancing shorts on TikTok when your relationship with your partner is slowly dying, where you’re not going out on dates, not communicating properly, not having sex if you’re married, and the love is slowly dying. This is because you will use that time and effort to try to make your partner happy and satisfied, to make yourself a better partner, and to try to keep the love alive. It is your responsibility as a partner to keep your partner happy, didn’t you know?
If you give your mind something meaningful to do throughout all your waking hours, you’ll end the day more fulfilled, and begin the next one more relaxed, than if you instead allow your mind to bathe for hours in semiconscious and unstructured Web surfing.
-Cal Newport (Deep Work)
Your higher self, the self that willingly takes up the burden of responsibility, does not tolerate distractions, the same way God does not tolerate distractions for his servants. God does not want his servants to conform to the world, to not be distracted by sinful pleasures, but rather focus solely on serving him and striving for the kingdom of heaven. In fact, the Bible says this:
Keep your eyes straight ahead; ignore all sideshow distractions.
Watch your step, and the road will stretch out smooth before you.
Look neither right nor left; leave evil in the dust.
Proverbs 4:25–27
Responsibility rejuvenates your soul, the same way distractions corrupt your soul. God created us to take responsibility for our lives and live the best life we can life, full of purpose, duty, and self-growth. Not to distract ourselves with petty temptations and fleeting fancies. So we must be responsible. It is our responsibility to perform.
Our conscience condemns us whenever we fail to uphold our responsibilities. When we do not strive to fulfill our purpose, we feel a temporary sense of depression and emptiness, which can only be remedied when we take responsibility in that moment and get back to work in striving to make our lives better. This is why when we burden ourselves with responsibility, and that responsibility is meaningful and important in our eyes, we will be compelled to fulfill them whether we feel like it or not. Our responsibilities will be a must for us.
Your life becomes meaningful in precise proportion to the depths of the responsibility you are willing to shoulder.
-Jordan Peterson (Beyond Order: 12 More Rules For Life)
Distractions are everywhere. They are inescapable, and can never be fully eliminated from the world. However, responsibility gives us something else to think about. Something else to do. Our thoughts about what we must do overrides the thoughts of what we want to do. With the right level of responsibility, coupled with lofty goals and a strong sense of purpose, nothing can distract us. If you want to remove distractions, take up more responsibility, because responsibility eliminates distractions.
