TAKE FULL RESPONSIBILITY OF YOUR LIFE

Take full responsibility for your life!

“Peak performance begins with your taking complete responsibility for your life and everything that happens to you.” Brian Tracy

"Most people do not really want freedom, because freedom involves responsibility, and most people are frightened of responsibility.” Sigmund Freud

There is only one person that's responsible for your life and that is YOU! Not your boss, not your spouse, not your parents, not your friends, not your clients, not the economy, not the weather. YOU! The day we stop blaming others for everything that happens in our life, everything changes! Taking responsibility for your life is taking charge of your life and becoming the protagonist of it. Instead of being a victim of circumstances, you obtain the power to create your own circumstances or at least the power to decide how you are going to act in the face of circumstances that life presents to you. It doesn’t matter what happens to you in your life; it matters what attitude you adopt. And the attitude you adopt is your choice! If you blame your life situation on others, what has to happen to make your life better? All of the others have to change! And that my friend I tell you, is not going to happen. If you are the protagonist, YOU have the power to change the things that you don't like in your life! You are in control of your thoughts, actions, and feelings. You are in control of your words, the series you watch on TV , and the people you spend your time with. If you don't like your results, change your input - your thoughts, emotions, and expectations. Stop reacting to others and start responding. Reaction is automatic. Responding is consciously choosing your response. You take your life in your own hands, and what happens? A terrible thing: no one to blame - Erica Jong The victim says: Every bad thing in my life is others’ fault, but if you are not part of the problem, then you also can’t be a part of the solution or - in other words - if the problem is caused by the outside, the solution is also on the outside. If you’re coming in late to work because of “traffic”, what has to happen so that you can get to work on time? Traffic has to

disappear magically! Because as long as there is traffic - you will always be late. Or you can act like a protagonist and leave home on time. Then it depends on you. So once again: even if you don’t have control over the stimuli that environment sends you continuously, you have the liberty do choose your behavior in facing the situation. The person with a “victim mentality” only reacts, is always innocent, and constantly blames others for his or her life situation, while using the past as justification and putting their hopes on a future which will miraculously bring solutions to problems or a change in others who are causing the troubles. The protagonist knows that he or she is responsible, chooses adequate behavior and holds himself accountable. He uses the past as a valuable experience from which to learn, lives in the present where he sees constant opportunities for change, and decides and goes after his future goals. The most important question is: “Who will you choose to be – by your actions – when life presents you with these circumstances?” Gandhi said it very nicely: “They can’t take away our self-respect if we don’t give it to them.”

Ask yourself the following questions: Who are you blaming for your life situation right now? (Your partner? Your boss? Your parents? Your friends?) What would happen if you stopped blaming the others for what happens to you in your life? What would happen if you would stop being a victim of the circumstances? Is it comfortable for you being the victim? What benefits does it have for you to be a victim? What would happen if you stopped suffering in your life and took the decision to change it? What would you change? Where could you start? How would you start?

Action Step: Write down five things that you can do in the coming week to start changing the course and start taking charge of your life.