“(He/she/they) who is good at making excuses is rarely good at anything else.” – Benjamin Franklin

“The person who complains about the way the ball bounces is probably the one who threw it.” – Lou Holtz

“Wisdom comes from personal accountability. We all make mistakes; own them … learn from them. Don't dismiss the lesson by blaming others.” — Steve Maraboli

Early in my career, I made mistakes. Many of them. It wasn't out of malice or intent, it was just a lack of experience. In everyone's career and personal life, they will make mistakes. It's part of the learning process and, frankly, the only way you know for sure eventually succeed. Really, though, it's not the mistakes that matter. This is how you react to them. Your inner monologue will, without fail, tell you to explain yourself, blame, and minimize your participation—the goal is to limit the damage and walk away unscathed. I'll let you in on a little secret: This is the worst thing you can do.

Related: 3 Ways Owning Your Mistakes Will Make You Powerful

Saying you're sorry is hard, necessary … and important

How many times in the past week, month or year can you remember saying “i'm sorry” to someone for something you did? What was the reaction? There are simply very limited responses of anger to someone who honestly and reflectively says “I'm sorry.” This creates remorse, but also recognition. A recognition of failure. A Recognition of action An acknowledgment of the bad outcome and regret for the same can allow you to move forward and progress.

Trying to explain will only make the problem worse

Conversely, trying to explain away your failures invites the exact opposite reaction. Whenever you explain why something wasn't your fault, it's easier to demonstrate why it was. Whenever you decide blame someone elseit opens the door to more direct criticism of your actions. Furthermore, I think you will find that whenever your deviations are redirected your way, they will become more intense, angrier, and more likely to affect you personally in an adverse way.

Saying you're sorry is an exercise personal accountability and demonstration of strength. Blaming others is just opening a window into your own weakness.

However, personal responsibility is very difficult. It requires you to look at yourself critically. It requires you to look failures in the face and ask yourself how and why they happened. It requires you to improve. Deviation, on the other hand, just asks you make an excusewhether true or not. No need for reflection, just a strong desire to bury the problem and move on. The problem is that you'll move on to your next failure because, without critical reflection, you're simply not pushing yourself to improve.

Related: Are you sabotaging your success by blaming others?

There are simple but critical ways you can practice personal accountability

So how do you turn these vague theses into action? There are a number of ways:

• In everything you do, take pride and effort: If you don't care or will half-ass the task, find something else to do, whether it's a personal or professional project. The only way to consistently avoid failure is to put your all into the things you do. Shows of pride. Laziness and indolence do the same.

• Ask for reviews and accept negative ones: Everyone wants to walk into a review and hear nothing but reviews. And frankly, for your boss, it's easier to highlight the good than to lament the bad. Because of this, there is often one leadership failure as well as during these meetings. It's good to hear what you did well, but it's absolutely necessary to learn what you didn't do. Before each feedback session ends, you should ask, “What can I do better?” The answer will never be “nothing” and you will improve because of it.

• Look critically at your work: Step outside yourself and ask, “If I were someone else, would I be impressed by this?” This is difficult reflection. That said, if you put pride and effort into your work, you'll likely answer the question with a resounding yes.

• Never blame others: Let's remove issues of unfair prejudice and/or personal vendettas. The truth is, if the blame is laid at your feet, you likely had something to do with it. Accept and accept responsibility. Say you're sorry. Promise for improvement. And then go get better. I promise you will have some discomfort when you do. I also promise that the discomfort will be shorter and less painful than it will be if you start avoiding guilt, even if it is warranted.

• Trust others and be a good person: When you trust others and treat others well, you'll find you're not alone when mistakes are made, and you'll rarely be blamed by those who don't practice personal responsibility.

• Learn from those around you who are personally accountable and ignore those who are not: It is difficult to become personally responsible. But the best of those around you will show you the way. They will be the leaders in your professional environment. Bring them on. Ask them questions. And when you see them constantly blaming and trying to excuse themselves from their mistakes, ignore them. They won't last long.

Related: The real reason you struggle with responsibility—and what you can do to master it

I'll be honest, maybe it's just that I'm getting older, but it seems clear to me that personal responsibility is waning. Perhaps in this digital age and with the rise of remote work, it's just easier to be dismissive and hide your mistakes. But “getting away with something” isn't really getting away with something. Karma is real and I think you will find that it comes back with a vengeance. Conversely, exercising personal responsibility will almost always stand you in good stead. I have made many mistakes in my career and I can say, unequivocally, that only because I have failed have I succeeded.