Here are my favorite quotes on ownership 🙂 If you want to know more about ownership, read the following article here.

What is Ownership?

Ownership is like grabbing the pen to write your own story. It’s about embracing every fragment of your life, not just as something you possess, but as a canvas you’re actively painting on. When we talk about ownership here, it’s a dance between taking control and letting go—knowing when to steer and when to let life unfold. It’s a pledge to stand by your decisions and their ripples, a promise to hold the reins of your journey, and a commitment to craft your narrative with intention, honesty, and a dash of audacity.

3 Quotes on Ownership by Jocko Willink

You are worth it to be helped!

When you’re too embarrassed to ask for help, that’s a little knock at your door saying, ‘you’re insecure!’

ownership jocko willink quote ask for help

Well, I remember when I was like this. It’s okay to ask for help and it doesn’t devalue you. It’s about the bigger picture. You want to do your job well, so it’s okay to ask. But that’s the thing: you are responsible for asking!

But also, it can be the opposite. That you ask too much because you don’t think you can do it. I have this rule for myself, where I first try to solve something on my own and if it takes me too long I ask for help. That’s how I keep my balance.

Take ownership of your life!

Once people stop making excuses, stop blaming others, and take ownership of everything in their lives, they are compelled to take action to solve their problems.

ownership jocko willink quote stop making excuses

Don’t blame others for how you feel or what happens in your life. Let’s be honest, yes there are assholes out there… but it’s your responsibility how they make you feel and how you react in certain situations. The school of stoicism helped me a lot with this mindset.

But the same thing here, that doesn’t mean that everything that happens to you is your fault. You have to set boundaries for others, but that’s your job to make them clear. It’s about always thinking: “what can I do to improve?” instead of thinking “the other’s are stuuuuupid”.

Be responsible for yourself

Accept responsibility for your actions.
Be accountable for your results.
Take ownership of your mistakes.

It’s okay to “fail”, it’s okay to make mistakes… nobody is perfect. And only by “failing” and making mistakes you can learn and get better. So, if that happens next time, don’t think “oh, I can’t do this” -> think “okay, what can I do better next time and how can I fix this now” instead. Accept the mistake and move on 🙂

Jocko Willink was a US Navy Seal and has very interesting thoughts on ownership. Why? Well, he has quite the story to tell about it:

More quotes about ownership from inspirational people

Pat Summitt

Responsibility equals accountability equals ownership. And a sense of ownership is the most powerful weapon a team or organization can have.

Toni Morrison

Freeing yourself was one thing, claiming ownership of that freed self was another.

Sean Stephenson

Until you take ownership for your life, you will always be chasing happiness. You make a new life by making new choices.

William James

The instinct of ownership is fundamental in man’s nature.

Mia Farrow

I learned that you can’t truly own anything, that true ownership comes only in the moment of giving.

John G. Miller

Ownership: ‘A commitment of the head, heart, and hands to fix the problem and never again affix the blame.’

Quotes about taking responsibility for your actions

Everything is a choice! And now comes the real deal: not choosing yourself what you want to do is also a choice you make. Every choice we don’t make is at the same time a choice. YOU choose not to choose. Think about that 😉

When it comes to taking responsibility for your own actions, it’s about focusing on yourself and not feeling like the victim all the time. Just by shifting your thoughts to “What can I do?” instead of “I did this wrong…” or “This was their fault”, it really changes everything.

“I’m sorry” is a statement.
“I won’t do it again” is a promise.
“How do I make it up to you?” is a responsibility.

If you know me, then you also know that I don’t really care about “I am sorry”… For me actions are important, I have to see that you mean what you are saying. But that is another topic on it’s own. The funny thing about ownership is, that it is just a mindset and a different perspective on life. It doesn’t mean you can control everything, but you focus on what you can change! Kind of reminds me of stoicism 😉

Conclusion about ownership

Well, these were a few good ownership quotes which I can relate to. Quotes, of course, are very inspirational, but they have no real effect if you don’t actually change your behavior. And changing your behavior can be difficult, I know… I had experience with that myself.

One day you will realize that you CAN be the best version of yourself and it all starts with a choice. I know this is all very clique, but you CAN if you really want to. And that’s I think where most of us fail, I did too in the past: WHY do you want to change? You need the right reasons to do something and then you will.

For me, it always goes back to one thought: What if I die tomorrow? What if the person I care about would die tomorrow? You would act very differently if that would be the case. Take care of yourself and then the ones around you. To change the world, you must change yourself first.

Read my thoughts about “The End”