The level of respect you have for yourself directly affects the decisions you make.

And frankly, I don’t think people respect themselves enough.

They’d rather ignore our nation’s problems or consume them like entertainment from cable news than actually get off their ass and make a difference. They think they’re so small and meaningless compared to some politician or talk show host that they stop taking pride in their own lives.

They’re so fast to transfer their personal responsibility to the government or to a party they think is bigger or more powerful than they are individually. Every time something bad happens, they want solutions, so they cry to Washington to come save the day. Then these same people act surprised when the government’s solution is taking away their freedom.

Take ownership of your life—it’s all you’ve got.

It should be socially unacceptable to sit around and bitch that you don’t have a great job or a fancy car or personal safety or anything else you think you’re entitled to, because the only thing the government owes you is the chance to exercise your freedom and pursuit of what you want.

Watch Dom Raso discuss the importance of taking personal responsibility in a free country: