You miss 100% of the shots you do not take...
There are two sections to this blog- the first written by Reggie Batts and the second part which was written by his good friend, Christopher Yonan. They both collaborate almost daily on the importance of people getting involved in the things that matter to them and taking responsibility for them. Responsibility doesn’t need a fancy title, but rather a commitment to contribute to the efforts of your goals and the goals of those who share your ideas. Enjoy!
Message from Reggie Batts:
With so much going on in the world today, more than ever we must take responsibility for the life we live. I often hear so many people voicing their opinions on various topics from politics, the economy, taxes, and social issues that we are all a part of. However, I rarely hear from individuals who are actually taking action to do anything about it. No matter what our views are on any topic, we can take the responsibility to change it- in some form.
One of my management styles when one of my representatives would ask for my help on something, the first thing I would ask them is what they would recommend as far as a solution. Almost every time, they would have the solution, probably better than the one I would have offered. That’s a sign of great leadership on my part and great responsibility on their part. It has also conditioned them and empowered them to make wise decisions on behalf of the company without getting me involved. That’s responsibility and that’s why I have had the most outstanding teams.
Responsibility also comes in other forms of our lives such as going to the polls to vote on what we feel is right. We can also write letters to our congressional leaders if we oppose a decision; whatever the case may be, we can contribute somehow. What we don’t want to do is stand on the sideline and watch things happen that are important to us without getting involved in the process.
This same rule applies to business as much as it applies to life. Those who succeed in business are those who get involved and make things happen. They give 10 times more than what is expected of them. They do an outstanding job, and they associate with those who are doing even better. They reach out to mentor those who have fallen short, and they take on additional responsibilities as an investment towards their future.
The responsibility is ours to take the action needed to make a difference in our lives. If we don’t do anything, we can almost always expect a poor result. Remember, we will miss 100% of the shots we do not take. The shots we do not take could mean a promotion, a book deal, a job offer, a politician you oppose, and the list goes on.
In closing, I leave you with a quote from Michael Korda, Editor in Chief for Simon and Schuster. “Success on any major scale requires you to accept responsibility . . . . In the final analysis, the one quality that all successful people have is the ability to take on responsibility.”
Continue to ride the wave of life and have a higher awareness of the responsibilities we all have in the different areas of our lives.
Here is my good friend Chris Yonan, who likes to tie a balanced political tone to responsibility………
Message from Christopher Yonan
As we move through life, we learn to grow; grow in many ways. We grow physically, mentally, socially and personally. As we grow, we start to hear the word responsibility. Responsibility can be both rewarding and daunting. With responsibility (especially when it is expected) comes pressure! However, without responsibility we would not be who we are, we would not have the thoughts, aspirations, morals, ethics and all around views on the world. The question is, are you going to own your responsibility?
Believe me, I know how scary it is! I am a twenty-five year old generation Y’er, I know and see the pressures put on everyone. With the financial crisis (Wall Street, Main Street, government-federal and state, and the world), the pressure is all around us! It consumes the day! With this uncertainty, comes the question: what about the future? What is the country going to look like? What are we going to leave future generations (our children)? Will there be social security? In the end, it comes down to the saying: you will be the thinkers and leaders of the future (every generation succeeding the current). What will you do with it?
Talk about pressure! Now, I am not saying I don’t have faith; that I don’t believe in individuals to answer the challenge, but it’s still pressure. I feel we are proving we have the answers and are willing to take on the pressures and challenges.
As a nation we have fought for freedom (The Revolutionary War, Declaration of Independence, Constitution of the United States, Civil War, Civil Rights Movement; not to mention voting rights, woman’s rights (Roe vs. Wade), anti-war protests-Vietnam and same sex rights) and we continue to strengthen our freedom. Imagine the pressures facing those individuals, groups, organizations and associations to stand up against the odds/popular opinion; it’s impressive.
We are doing it ourselves everyday. Whether you feel or think it, it’s true. We came together as a nation to say we want change; we want a new young face and mind. We elected the 44thPresident of the United States Barack Obama (and let me add, in dramatic fashion).
The 2008 Presidential Election was the highest voting turnout (by percentage) since the 1968 Presidential Election. Forty years. 56.8% voter turnout in the 2008 election. Thank you, all who voted!
In addition to the increase in over all turn out, there was also a jump in young voters. With an estimated 23 million young Americans under the age of thirty, an increase of an estimated 3.4 million and four to five percentage points when compared to 2004 (talk about rising to the challenge). Young Americans have been inspired or are inspiring each other.
We have seen the people of Iran do this for the past couple of weeks. I think Obama had a great line in a speech the other day when talking about the troubling violence in Iran, ‘Iranian protesters are inspiring the world’ (something like that). You have a great power to vote, a given power, it is a responsibility. We have the responsibility to vote and to vote wisely. Take pride in it!
Rise to the challenge, no matter your ideologies: red, blue, green, young, single, young, religious or not. Because it doesn’t matter, we can all rise to the challenge. We can no matter who was elected, whether you voted for him or not, you can hold them accountable (accountable for what’s best for the country, state, city, and as groups and individuals). We need keep our politicians honest.
Please make sure the representatives we elected are held accountable. Reach out and voice your opinion by contacting your representative, create a group, non-profit or blog. Please share your voice.
Please vote! All the best, Chris
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Reggie Batts– Website: www.reggiebatts.com and Twitter: http://twitter.com/ReggieBatts
Christopher Yonan– Website: https://chrisyonan.wordpress.com/ and on Twitter: http://twitter.com/topherjames
Christopher Yonan 
I was happy to read about “Taking Responsibility”, something that has been lacking in the Democrat Party since the election. They love to spew that it was Bush that caused this deficit we find ourselves in. Unfortunately for our President who has tripled the deficit, he and his cohorts refuse to take responsibility for what they have done. He’s been in office for 6 months and has yet to keep one promise. We’re still in Iraq, Gitmo still functions, and we’re about to have the biggest tax hike in modern history. And although we have the best health care in the world, he and his cohorts want to shove their socialized medicine down our throats. We need tort reform and strict Health Insurance regulations that protects consumers. Not socialized medicine. Thankfully many are speaking out to their representatives, but Waxman and Pelosi seem to have their own agendas. None of what is happening today would please our founders. The Federal Government was never to have this much power.
I will quickly respond to your points and concerns. Also, keep in mind that debating is more fun with individuals that don’t think or share all your ideas. So, no matter what we are all better off with these differences of opinions. With that in mind I will continue as follows:
When looking at the deficit numbers, everyone just looks at the end number (the deficit has tripled-well yes it will over a certain number of years, but we don’t know what will happen between those years, which actually might shrink the deficit). But that is still an uncertainty, we don’t know. All we know is what is said, and that is if we make these changes now, which cost money to do now, it will cost less over time. That is the philosophy; it’s a standard investment philosophy. Also, when looking at the budget you have to take in to consideration what happened leading up to the time when one take over the budget (mentioned a little later), but also one of the reasons is the current state of the economy.
If we us Japan and the “Lost Decade” as a model to help us (the United States) out of the current economic crises then the government has to assume more and more debt in order to stabilize and rebuild the economy. See links at the bottom.
Now, for taxes and I know that you as well as I and everyone else, do not like the idea of taxes and raising taxes (especially for certain programs and purposes, where there is little to no auditing/oversight and little to gauge success/usefulness). We need to have taxes, though we do need to reform the whole system and look at all the programs. There is a better way to mange not only who and how one pays taxes, but how it is being spent on.
Why shouldn’t we tax carbon emissions? The international community is trying to create a carbon emission standard for countries; why shouldn’t we make companies operating in the United States to pay. Plus, why shouldn’t we tax companies (energy, oil, tobacco, etc) if their actions are creating a worst environment for all of use; which leads to higher health risks and a sicker society (I know it is a small part of the health problems in the US, but it’s still a contributor). In the end it leads to more costs for the tax payer! It is contributing to higher and higher healthcare costs for all: individuals, companies (who provide coverage for their employees) and governmental programs (Medicare and all state and federal programs). In the end, it’s the tax payer’s burden. Why are we letting the companies pass their taxes on to us?
One can argue whether any individual is doing their job and taking responsibility for there actions. However, to only attack President Obama about responsibility and to say that those who attack Bush have no claim; is so far from the truth. For argument shake; lets take a look at a presidency that operated with the lack and care of responsibilities: taking our country from the largest surplus to the biggest deficit of our country’s history (through 2008), lying to the American people to start a war to benefit friends and campaign contributors (Brown & Root, Halliburton, and oil companies and the individuals associated with all the companies-to name a few) *look at the Bushes connections to the Saudi’s and the Bin Laden Families – its all about money, control and power at the expense of the American people; but that is a separate issue., and the abuse of power (executive authority). We can debate abuse of executive authority, but we have seen the lack of compliance to congressional subpoena and requests on the grounds of executive authority. What happened to the Balance of Powers model of our Constitution?
The last issue is healthcare reform, and it is ridiculous; every citizen of this country should have access to affordable healthcare. Now, I am not saying that the current proposals are the right ones and I will be writing about this topic in an upcoming blog; but please look at what the healthcare companies are doing. They are spending millions of dollars a DAY lobbying against any changes, they are pouring money in to politicians PAC’s and it is because they do not want to help out the sick. What is healthcare with out the care? Isn’t the purpose of medicine to help others? Now, it is just about getting rich and taking advantage of people who think they have coverage, but are denied care and coverage when they need it. How is that right? Here is something to read about this topic:
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/16/former_insurance_exec_wendell_porter
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20090714_health-insurance_whistle_blower_knows_where_the_bodies_are_buried/
People fear change to the healthcare because that is what the healthcare industry wants you to believe. Everyone is focused on the idea that healthcare reform is more government, however, there is something called the Patriot Act and the eliminations of First Amendment rights that is far worst. Is that not big government!?
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101066132
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88156284