Sailing the high seas…
Imagine being the captain of a sailboat at the start of an Olympic sailing final. You have been preparing thoroughly and are focused on how to take advantage of the outside conditions, the wind, the currents, and how the opposing sailboats are positioned to win the race.
You can’t control outside conditions. They are what they are. You can only control three things: your thoughts, what you visualize, and what you do. How you use those three things to respond to outside conditions will determine your results in the race. You have decided to take responsibility for your results and consequently, you feel in control, confident, strong, and ready to win. You feel the exhilaration of the upcoming challenge. You feel great!
One of your opponents; a rookie, is not focused on what he can do to win the race. His focus is on how the wind is not blowing just right, how the currents are all wrong, and how everyone else seems to have a better sailboat and better crews than he does. The rookie is whining, complaining, and acting like a victim. He’s focused on what he can’t control, on the circumstances. He’s not taking any responsibility. The rookie feels scared and out of control. He feels awful.
It’s pretty easy to figure out who will win the race. Winning in life, like winning in a regatta, is not about what happens to you, winning is about how you handle it. It’s about growing up, taking responsibility and getting the job done.
Everything you experience today is a result of the choices you have made in the past. Whatever happens to you for the rest of your life is up to you. You are in control. You are the Captain of your own ship. You can make your life-ship drift aimlessly, or you can take your life-ship wherever you please.
The moment you accept total responsibility for your life is the moment you grow up. Most people never do this. Most people blame all of their problems on other people and on circumstances. They say life is not fair. People that act that way have simply never grown up. Mentally, they are still waiting for Mommy or Daddy to bail them out of their self-imposed challenges.
Next time that you are in a tough situation, rather than blaming your circumstances, say, “I am responsible and I will fix this situation.” As soon as you declare yourself responsible, your whole mental state shifts from victim mentality to victor mentality. The words “I am responsible” instantly make negative feelings and emotions vanish. Whenever you feel negative or angry say “I am responsible,” and watch what happens to your emotions. You’ll be amazed!
You can’t effectively set and achieve goals if you are in a negative state of mind. But once you take responsibility, you free yourself up mentally and emotionally and you can start channeling all of your energy on the job at hand. The key is to accept responsibility.
Stop making excuses and stop justifying your behavior. Whenever you do, you are giving your power away. Stop complaining. In order to complain about something, you must believe something better exists. When people complain about something and get mad, what makes them mad is that they are not taking responsibility for creating the better thing. They are not willing to take the risks and do the work necessary to create the better thing. They get frustrated, and get angry.
From now on, when circumstances are not ideal, either accept that you are not willing to do what it takes to create a better life, and quit complaining, or accept the risk and the price of creating a better life. Replace complaining with taking massive action. You’ll feel a lot better. Guaranteed!
From today on start seeing yourself as the master of your own fate, because you are. Focus on the future and on what you can do right now to achieve it. Think about your goals. Just thinking and writing your goals down puts you into a powerful and purposeful state of mind.
The more responsibility you accept and the more control you feel, the happier you’ll be. You have what it takes to realize your dreams. Take responsibility and watch your life change.
Action Steps:
Think about a challenge you are facing right now. How are you responsible for it? Ask yourself, “How am I allowing that to happen? What am I doing that’s not working?”
Decide to stop blaming others for anything and decide to start accepting responsibility for your life.
Whenever something doesn’t turn out exactly like you’d like, start acting like you were 100% responsible. You’ll feel a lot better.
You are where you are because of the choices you have made. What should you change?
Decide to forgive anyone who has hurt you in any way. Use all of your extra energy to pursuing your dream.
Start keeping an eye on your results. Results don’t lie. Once you focus on your results, start doing more of what works and less of what doesn’t work and watch your results change.
Ex) Need to lose weight? Exercise more and eat less.
Success is not rocket science. If it was, only PhDs would succeed. The only thing that will change your results is changing your behavior. That’s great news. It means anyone can succeed.
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