Your choices will empower or enslave you. And which you choose is up to you.
Roger Allen
Most people I work with are continually striving to achieve more. They’re constantly on the lookout for better or easier ways to accomplish things. If you can relate to that mindset, then let me tell you about the ultimate tool for success.
I must warn you: when I explain the tool to most people, they’re disappointed; they believe the secret to success must be some hidden treasure that only Indiana Jones could uncover.
In fact, the ultimate success tool is quite simple. It consists of three little words: “It’s my fault.”
But when I share this secret with people, almost everyone responds the same way I did when I first learned about the three little words. My response was to think of all the things that had gone wrong in my life that were not my fault.
When something goes wrong, what’s the first thing we do? Our natural reaction is to look for someone or something to blame. More often than not, we’d prefer to have a good excuse than to take any responsibility for a mishap.
But here’s the problem with that approach: when you place responsibility outside yourself, you give up your power to learn from the situation.
I totally understand that there are things which are beyond your control, and many of those things can and will adversely affect whatever you’re trying to do. But ultimately, you are the one who makes the decision about what to do and when and how to do it. So while you may not be the direct cause of any glitch, you made the choices that put you in that particular time and place.
I realize this is a difficult concept to accept. Since the Garden of Eden, people have been denying personal responsibility. Adam wasn’t going to take the heat for eating the forbidden fruit, so he blamed Eve for suggesting it. Eve, in turn, blamed the Serpent.
But if you truly wish to gain more control and achieve more success in your life, learn to take responsibility for your circumstances. This is never easy; at times, it can be very painful. But personal responsibility is the ultimate success tool. Once you begin to accept personal responsibility, your choices will greatly improve — and so will your life.
Accept responsibility for your life. Know that it is you who will get you where you want to go, no one else.
Les Brown
1945 –
Copyright © 2019 John Chancellor