While the adoption of responsibility and discipline in one’s life may appear to be beneficial to the individual, which it surely is, there exists a limit to which such virtues no longer are optimal. Many people say the limit here is spreading oneself too thin, or adopting more responsibility than one can handle, but in these cases, we are no longer successfully adopting responsibility. Here I want to assume that the responsibilities, and discipline we apply to being industrious, or orderly, or in the duties we voluntary undertake, are all physically and mentally possible in a successful manner. Given this framework, I propose, there is still a limit to the usefulness and beneficiality of further adoption of responsibility, and that limit has to do with the effect that our actions have on other people.Once a given adoption of responsibility effectively and unjustly removes the opportunity of others to accept responsibility, in effect, once there is no longer the possibility of others being able to voluntarily accept responsibility in a manner that is detrimental to their wellbeing, then you may question whether the limit of your actions in terms of duty has been overstepped. In this case, you may gain the personal character advantage in being able to hold a heavier burden, thus sharpening individual discipline and intellect in ordering chaos, but, you do so at the price of compassion for the growth available to others. This limit, like most golden means, requires experiential and contemplative wisdom in discerning, but that it exists, cannot be doubted.

In addition to limiting the ability for others to adopt responsibility, the excessive undertaking of additional duties in one’s life may lead one to resent others for whom he is effectively removing obstacles from. While your time, energy, and mental effort is spent in carrying out excessive duties, you may notice a growing resentment towards those who could’ve, and perhaps should have, done the task, that is, had you not been the one expending all the resources in undertaking it. This may be personally rationalized by a self-reflective justification by the appearance of acting virtuously, and doing the right thing. If this excessive responsibility limit has been crossed, then the individual may feel contempt for those who have not opted for a similar path. Far too often this type of personality trait is represented in the more orderly and disciplined types, in trait conscientiousness, as they are restless in pursuing careers, and dedicated towards a cause. Those high in trait conscientiousness often will continue working and are unsatisfied with things being undone, and thus will be the first to alleviate problems, the only problem is, they often cross the line in removing the opportunity for others to do so, hindering their growth. They often oversee the fact that they effectively are removing potentiality for others, and see themselves as doing the right thing. From a virtue ethicists standpoint, they surely are being virtuous, they are growing in responsibility, and are better able to organize chaos, yet they are blind to the implications of their actions on other people, which is truly missing the mark of greatness, which is quantified as morally bad in the utilitarian system, as they remove the wellbeing which could be potentially afforded to others had they had the chance to adopt the responsibility themselves.

There is a fine line between licentiousness, proper fulfilling of duty, and over excessive adoption of responsibility, and the management and correct view in regards to this aspect of life can be life altering in its optimization. Often times we need to look outside ourselves, not only at what we can do to make things better, but what we ought not to do to make things better, for ourselves, and our expanding circle of influence. The bigger the circle of influence we wish to effect positively, the less focus we need to place on the actual individual action we undertake, and more upon the effect of the action upon the people whom we are including in the moral analysis. The greater the circle of influence, the greater the introspection, analysis, contemplation, and weighing our actions ought to require, and for this, we must look towards the wellbeing not only of ourselves, but of those we care about, for the benefit not only of others, but, paradoxically, for our own benefit and optimization of life experience as well.