Like many successful people you are very responsible. This is one of the reasons for your success. You are responsible for many things at work, at home and in your community.

You have been responsible for so much for so long you think you can and SHOULD do everything.

Let’s make a deal.

For the rest of this article we’ll both take off our capes.

Okay ?

Why?

Because responsibility, if not reflected upon, can have a dark side, it can lead to a false identity that is rooted in perfectionism, busyness and pride. It happens slowly over time.

You start to think of yourself as too critical and too important. You let all of the positive feedback go to your head and think:

“They really CAN’T live without me. They need me.”

But in many cases they don’t need you to take over. You may be robing someone else of a chance to grow and lead in an area you are already skilled in.

Why do you do this?

Let’s look at your false self and the baggage it created.

Going through my own transformation, I took off the cape, turned on the light and looked in the mirror. It was only once I could see that I could begin to walk towards my true identity in Christ.

Here is what I saw:

Busyness Addiction: You volunteer to be responsible for whatever no one else will do until you have filled every free sec/min/hour you have. You are constantly on the go and you have forgotten how to relax. The fist step is to release unrealistic expectations.

Pride: You are not God. You can’t change people. You can educate, you can influence but at the end of the day their life is up to them not you. And honestly once you accept that you are responsible TO people and not FOR them  – there is great freedom. The first step is to learn to let go.

Perfectionism: You work tirelessly to do what you say you’ll do so you don’t have to face the consequences of saying you’re sorry, having failed, disappointed people etc. In your quest for perfection and achievement people stop being people along the way. You begin to care more about the task at hand then your relationships. Click here to learn how perfectionism lies to you.

Where is your life has the dark side of responsibility shown up?