Inspection Ready: The Real Meaning Behind Responsibility
As a former Marine and Soldier in the Army, we adhere to motto’s like “if you stay ready you never have to get ready” to promote a high state of readiness with respect to our bodies, work and personal spaces. In fact, in the military we have RDF’s (Rapid Deployment Forces) and QRF’s (Quick Response Forces) that are capable of being “wheels up” in as short as 18 hours for an overseas deployment (RDF), or less for local responses (QRF). So I bring all of this up because in order to maintain this type of readiness, units like this are subjected to many inspections, so as to ensure that they can in fact be counted upon to mobilize at a moments notice. Also, another way to think about these random and frequent inspections is that they’re a form of progress tracking, which is what this blog post is really all about.
Over the past few years, I’ve come to see the word responsibility as response-ability. So by this assertion, for example, responsible parenting would refer to a parents ability to respond to all of the crucial needs that a child has, so as to grow into a self-sufficient human who’s also concerned for the well-being of more people than just themselves. And in regards to music, I’m always trying to maintain a high state of readiness in all areas of my life so that I can just focus on sounding the best I can every time I perform. And to do this, I have to make sure I’m not juggling too many commitments in life that would not only preclude me from investing the R&D time needed to improve before every performance, but to also stay organized in all the other non-musical areas so that when I perform, I can be 100% in the moment, and not distracted by other unfinished business.
So if you were someone else, and tasked with doing a surprise inspection on your response-ability to life, how might you score yourself within the following areas:
Health: Flexibility, speed, strength, and vital stats (as per the findings of a doctor and dentist), in addition to an adequate amount of the right kinds of foods, supplements, and daily water intake.
Emotional Intelligence: Evenness of temperament and logic filters.
Social: Contextual insight into the history of more cultures than one’s own, so as to better interpret the important symbolic cues common today. Also, the development of a solid network of true friends who represent the best versions of yourself.
Financial: At least six months of savings in the bank (i.e. “Job Insurance”), zero debt outside of a mortgage (preferably zero there as well), and enough asset income to outpace your job income by at least 1.5 times over, regardless as to if you work for someone else or not. FYI: This also has implications regarding your ability to respond to the needs of those around you in real ways that are greater than prayers and well-wishes.
Home: Preparing your home for all the seasonal changes your area undergoes every year, through major appliance updates/servicing and landscape/curb appeal development and maintenance.
Transportation: Updated service recommendations throughout all areas of your vehicle.
Suggested Takeaways…
a) Evaluate your growth in terms of weekly, monthly, and yearly progress. And if the trajectory doesn’t look like you want it to, then you’re at least in a better position to hold yourself accountable for changing your strategies.
b) Responsibility can be best articulated as response-ability.
c) Responding to situations in the moment with 100% of your focus, requires a reconciling of all other tasks and concerns. Therefore, the less plates you allow yourself to juggle in life, the fewer of them you stand to drop when you need to be in a place that requires all of your attention.