Ownership

Ownership to me is the key to excellence and all things good in life. But its an oft used word that carries no meaning almost. Ownership in its true sense brings with it two other words - responsibility and risk. These two words could be stopping you from reaching out to excellence, to the best things in life.
When you own something, you automatically take responsibility for it. Most times I think this responsibility, or what we think is the burden of responsibility, stops us from taking ownership. But responsibility is something that's more mental than any physical work. Once you are mentally geared to take up the responsibility, you are on the path to achieving what you want - simply because you are giving it your best shot.
Risk is another thing that comes in with ownership. You risk losing what you own so when you assume ownership you risk losing money, reputation, fame, status etc. Now that is another thing that stops us. But if you raise the bar and say, alright let's risk this loss of reputation, money, job or whatever and go for what I think is right (what I own), the return could be much higher. Higher the risk, higher the return.
Responsibility and risk, two words one needs to get comfortable with before we talk of ownership.