Most words get thrown around like they mean the same thing. Responsibility and ownership are two of them. They sound similar, but they produce very different results.

Think about renting a beach house for the week. You are responsible for damages, and if something breaks, you have to pay. So you are careful. But you don’t own it.

When you rent something, you care. When you own something, you commit.

Responsibility is assigned. It comes from a role, a title, or someone else’s expectations at work or at home.

Ownership is different. Ownership cannot be assigned. It has to be taken.

In Extreme Ownership, Jocko Willink defines ownership this way: To take total responsibility for everything that impacts your mission, accept no excuses, blame no one else, and proactively solve problems by looking inward and empowering others to succeed.

That definition is gold. Because when people take ownership, you don’t have to chase them. You don’t have to remind them. You don’t have to ask twice. They do it.

Ownership is what your spouse wants to see more of. It’s what your parents want to see more of. It’s what your boss wants to see more of. It’s what your coaches want to see more of.

Which begs the question, how do you take more ownership?

You change the way you see the work.

Stop treating your responsibilities as things you have to do. Start seeing them as things you must do. When “have to” becomes “must do,” something shifts. It stops being about feelings and starts being about obligation.

And something interesting happens when feelings leave the equation. You stop waiting to feel motivated. You stop negotiating with yourself. You act consistently. Said differently,

If you wait until you feel like it, you are being responsible. If you do it regardless of how you feel, you own it.

So today, take ownership of yourself and your actions. Stop thinking about being responsible and start thinking about ownership.

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