Title: Victim/Victor Exercise

Exercise Type: Role Dynamics

Time Required: 60 minutes
Suggested Group Size: Any
Suggested Age Group: Teenagers, Adults
Activity Level: Light

Materials Needed: None.

Venue: Typical meeting room.

Purpose/Outcome: To see and own the power that comes from accepting full responsibility for creating your experiences.

Activity Description: Split group into dyads. Ask them to do the following: “Think of a situation in your life where you felt like a victim and share briefly with your partner.”

“Now, retell the same story to convince your partner that you were totally responsible for your experience, i.e., for all of your feelings, thoughts and actions.”

Debrief/Facilitator Notes:

• What happened for you in this exercise?
• How did your experience differ each time you told the story?
• What insights did you have into your experience and your role in it?
• Do you see areas in your life where you might be more responsible?
• What did you learn about your power as a creator?
• Who were you or what did you do that could have attracted this event to you?
• How did you interpret this event? What did it mean to you?
• How did you respond internally to the event?
• How did you respond externally to the event?

Write a Discovery Statement around this exercise.

Learning Points: Review Top Ten Ways to Quit Playing Victim Role in Life. Discuss Responsibility as Choice or as “Ability to Respond”

• When you accept personal responsibility, you believe that you create everything in your life.
• Though we might not be responsible for everything that happens to us, we can always choose how we respond to each situation or circumstance.
• If you accept personal responsibility for creating your own results, you will choose the beliefs and behaviors to keep you on that course.

Write an Intention Statement around this exercise.

Application: Handout and complete sentence strings exercise either now or for homework.

Resources: Sentence Strings Exercise.

About the Author: Steve Davis, M.A., M.S., is an Facilitator's Coach, Infoprenuer, and free-lance human, helping facilitators, organizational leaders, educators, trainers, coaches and consultants present themselves confidently, access their creativity, empower their under-performing groups, enhance their facilitation skills, and build their business online and offline. Subscribe to his free weekly ezine at www.MasterFacilitatorJournal.com or visit www.livingmastery.com to learn more about him and his offerings.