Taking 100% Responsibility

Did you ever wonder why some people’s lives work better than others?  Why do some people material success while others struggle just to get by?  Why do some people have great relationships, lots of friends and pleasant interactions almost all of the time while others have relationships marked by conflict, jealousy, chaos and drama? Why do some people seem so interesting while others seem both bored and boring?  What do some people know that others don’t?

For whatever reason some people know how to build and take care of their lives better than do others.  There aren’t many places where we are taught such skills.  You don’t often learn such things at school, at work or at church.

The very first lesson to learn in building a successful life is that you must take 100% responsibility for the state of your life right now.  Of course some people have better circumstances with which to work than do others, but it is completely counterproductive to blame your circumstances as the reason your life isn’t as good as it could be.

Practice today.  Notice when you are making excuses and step into taking 100% responsibility.  When you fail at something ask yourself what you did or didn’t do that contributed to the failure.  When you get into a conflict with someone ask yourself what you did to create it.  This is a radical first step in growing your life.

If you are willing to explore the part you played in creating both your successes and your failures, you will begin to extract lessons that you can apply to other situations.  You will notice that you are likely doing some things that reliably invite problems and difficulties.  And, you will learn things you are doing that reliably lead to success.  When you can see the difference you can make choices to do more of the ones that are helpful and less of those that are not.