There is one key factor that can do more to guarantee your success in life than anything else. That key factor is RESPONSIBILITY.
Responsibility in its widest sense is extremely positive. It means that YOU, and nobody else, has control of your life. If you have control, then YOU can change things. You have the power. It is not in somebody else's hands - your wife, the government, your parents, your boss, your accountant, the stars....
Responsibility is not a popular doctrine. Instead, the world is full of people who give away their power to others by refusing to accept responsibility in their lives. They make excuses and find someone else to blame for their misfortunes or failed dreams.
Responsibility is not a popular doctrine. Instead, the world is full of people who give away their power to others by refusing to accept responsibility in their lives. They make excuses and find someone else to blame for their misfortunes or failed dreams.
They can give you an endless stream of reasons for why they failed to complete what they first began or, worse still, never began in the first place. Indeed, our society seems to be set up to cater for this sort of attitude. People can grow up and live an entire adult life without once learning this vital lesson so imperative to their happiness.
The sad thing about this attitude is that whilst it seems to serve us well, it really does not. You may certainly get a sympathetic ear for a while. People may even agree that you're quite right. However, in refusing to own your part in events, you give away your power. To whom? Everyone and everything outside of you. If YOU are not responsible for the various events in your life, then who is? Answer: other people, enemies, random forces of nature, the stars, fate or anything else you care to name.
If this is true, then there is logically nothing you can do to improve your situation. You are only going to get slapped down every time you try to achieve anything worthwhile. So why bother? Sadly, that is usually how people who take no responsibility for their own lives end up thinking.
The result for people who think this way is that they soon end up with "learned helplessness" and are rendered incapable of striving for any worthwhile goal. They lose the capacity to believe in themselves.
The result for people who think this way is that they soon end up with "learned helplessness" and are rendered incapable of striving for any worthwhile goal. They lose the capacity to believe in themselves.
Whenever something happens in your life, for good or ill, tell yourself, "I am responsible." Then ask yourself, "How am I going to handle this?" However bad a situation may be, if you repeat to yourself as an affirmation, "I am responsible", then you begin to look to yourself for the way out instead of to external forces. In truth, you are looking in the right direction. You ARE the true manifestor of your own destiny.
This is the way to take control of your life instead of leaving it in the hands of blind forces. It may sound hard or callous at times. However, it is not. You are not saying, "It's all my fault." Rather, you are saying, "I have the power to affect my life - for good or ill - and I choose to consciously exercise that power and take responsibility for whatever consequences I attract." How much better than blaming the stars, or your boss!
Once you take responsibility for everything that happens, you build a firm foundation upon which to build your long-term success. Leave the excuses for someone else. Set your face firmly in the direction of excellence. Take responsibility!
This is the way to take control of your life instead of leaving it in the hands of blind forces. It may sound hard or callous at times. However, it is not. You are not saying, "It's all my fault." Rather, you are saying, "I have the power to affect my life - for good or ill - and I choose to consciously exercise that power and take responsibility for whatever consequences I attract." How much better than blaming the stars, or your boss!
Once you take responsibility for everything that happens, you build a firm foundation upon which to build your long-term success. Leave the excuses for someone else. Set your face firmly in the direction of excellence. Take responsibility!
Dr. Asoka Selvarajah
Wow wow wow blind forces ;)
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