As you all know, I have been reading The Success Principles. I am hooked! There is such great information that I have been learning and re-learning. The very first chapter is about taking 100% responsibility for virtually everything in your life. Let me make a little disclaimer: This is really hard. I play the blame-game just as much as anyone else, and I will not deny it! But I do realize that blaming others will not result in the success that I strive to accomplish! Albert Einstein once defined insanity as "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." Well, blaming others has gotten me nowhere, so I need to change what I am doing.
In the book, Jack Canfield describes a very simple formula: Event (E) + Response (R) = Outcome (O). Many times, you cannot prevent an event or circumstances from happening, so instead of blaming your job for downsizing, a failed economy, you husband or wife, etc., you instead need to change your response to the event or circumstances. After all, you are the one who did not make yourself more valuable, you are the one that did not save for an emergency, you are the one who took out too many loans, you are the one who married her/him, you are the one who neglected the relationship, you are the one who ate the dessert. Getting to the point of admitting all of this is so very painful, but as soon as you get there you can move forward, and if you are unable to admit all of this, you are likely to fall into the same traps in the future. You do not need to admit these things to anyone else; you can do this privately, but you must do it.
When an event occurs, or you find yourself in a particular set of circumstances, take a moment to decide how you are going to respond. You could be angry and stomp your feet, OR you could decide upon a productive way to deal with the mess. Let's say there will be a freeway closed for construction for the week, and it is going to take you an extra hour to get to work in the morning. You could go to work at the same time you do every morning, be late into your job, mumble about the traffic when you are asked why you are late, then when you are up for a promotion, you lose it because of you negative attitude, and the week that you arrived late to work due to traffic. You are the one who decided your fate. Instead, you could have left an hour early for work that week, possibly learned a foreign language using the CD set you got for Christmas, and when promotion time rolled around, you would get it over the guy who rolled in late with a frown on his face. It is all about being prepared, and keeping your attitude positive. Don't let events or circumstances ruin your life; find a way to make them fit into the bigger picture.
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