One new learning that I have been internalizing these days is that taking complete ownership of anything you want to achieve helps in moving with speed and getting results — both good and bad — quickly. The results that come from taking complete ownership can assist in refining our strategy toward whatever we want and taking further actions to get closer to the goal.
Anyone reading this might feel that this is very obvious and that everyone knows this. But at least in my experience, there is a nuance to taking complete ownership. More often than not, I have realized that thinking I have taken complete ownership is an illusion, and in reality, it is only partial ownership that I had taken.
Let me explain this with an example. In the last quarter of 2024, I was determined to go to the gym at least three days a week. In my mind, I had decided and taken complete ownership that no matter what, I would go to the gym three days a week. Initially, for two to three weeks, I was consistent and able to achieve this goal. But after a few weeks, I started defaulting on this. There was a period of roughly three to four weeks of unconscious defaulting. During this time, I grew agitated and frustrated, wondering why I was not being regular in what I had decided. I started externalizing the blame, thinking that even though I had taken complete ownership of strength training, I was unable to do it because of factors outside my control. The easiest factor to blame was work and professional commitments.
This, in my opinion, is partial ownership or an illusion that I have taken complete ownership of achieving the goal I want. If I had truly taken complete ownership of something, I would have achieved it no matter the circumstances.
During the last few weeks of December, I generally like to read the year-end reviews of people I look up to who write really well. In one such year-end review of a person I admire, I read the following quote:
“Recognize that the world very often is a mirror. It is your fault. Take 100% of the responsibility.”
This immediately made me reflect on the insight that the frustration I was experiencing could be due to the partial ownership I had taken toward my health goal while thinking that I had taken complete ownership. That day, I decided that the words I would live by in 2025 and beyond were these: The world is often a mirror; it is my mistake and my responsibility in whatever good or bad outcome I achieve.
Thinking this way and shifting my perspective brought a sense of calm and a feeling that I have control and agency over everything that happens. It reinforced the belief that I can achieve anything if I put my mind to it and take consistent actions.
Recently, I have also been reading and learning a lot about Elon Musk — his life, how he did what he did, and the traits that made him successful. One trait that stood out was his ability to take complete ownership of everything he wanted to do and is doing. Below is a paragraph from his biography by Walter Isaacson, where Elon and his team were designing a Robotaxi:
Musk got into one of his very cold moods. “Let me be clear,” he said slowly. “This vehicle must be designed as a clean Robotaxi. We are going to take that risk. It is my fault if it f*cks up. But we are not going to design some sort of amphibian frog that’s a halfway car. We are all in on autonomy.”
This is just one example, and there are many such examples in the book. Everything that he has achieved has been because he took complete ownership — not the “I have followed up with X to do Y, but it hasn’t happened yet” kind of ownership that is common in a professional setting, which I also call partial ownership.
Nowadays, whenever I feel agitated about not getting something that I had thought of, I consciously ask myself: “Am I experiencing this anger because I have taken partial ownership of the goal I want to achieve?” If the answer is yes, then it means I have taken only partial ownership of the goal. This immediately helps me see reality and iterate my actions accordingly.
As a result of this learning, so far this year, I have been consistently going to the gym three days a week. My professional commitments have increased, but since I have now taken complete ownership of gaining muscle mass, I am finding time to do it consistently.
I believe complete ownership stems from a mindset that views the world as a mirror, where everything is my responsibility. It happens when we stop externalizing blame and fully accept accountability for our outcomes.
azeem panjwani 