Spending time alone with few distractions is a great way to get reacquainted with oneself. It can also be very confronting.
A strong sense of self includes the readiness to take responsibility for ALL your thoughts and actions…or non- actions! The opportunity to make excuses or procrastinate is often handed to you on a seemingly justifiable platter. When you share the stories of your latest challenges with others, you often gain permission to blame the circumstances for not getting started. Whew…you can let yourself off the hook.
Novelist, Joan Didion sums it up, “The willingness to accept responsibility for one’s own life is the source from which self- respect springs.”
Life, in the larger sense, is all about lessons. And when you accept you are fully responsible for the life you have, you position yourself to benefit from all of life’s lessons and enhance your hold on your sense of self in the process.
Similarly, to blame others for everything that happens to you is to fail to learn from life and disempower yourself. For as surely as night follows the day the universe will keep sending these lessons your way. The moment you refuse to pass the buck is the moment you empower yourself and experience growth. This allows you to move to a new and higher level of understanding about yourself, one informed by the lessons you have learned. Your mistakes and frustrations, you now surmise, are the universe’s way of telling you to adjust your plans and fine-tune your strategies.
By taking responsibility for our actions and refusing to engage in the blame and excuse game we come to profit not just from our pronounced strengths but also from our not so well-known weaknesses. The basketball player who only makes 40% of her free throws knows quite well that only by working on that aspect of her play can she hope to dominate the court. By fully acknowledging your weaknesses and shortcomings you too would come to know what area of your life you need to work on to reach the goals you have set for yourself.
The willingness to take responsibility for the choices we make includes our readiness to acknowledge our part in the outcomes of our actions, the pleasant as well as the unpleasant.
It takes courage to be ruthlessly honest with yourself. It takes courage to give up all the excuses and eliminate all the reasons why you don’t take action NOW. It takes courage not to succumb to blaming outside circumstances.
“You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself,” John Rohn – American Business Philosopher.
Be careful not to let all the obstacles, challenges and excuses get in the way. Make an honest commitment to yourself and take action, no matter how little, NOW! And trust in yourself…you have the power to be the happy, successful person you know you are meant to be.
© 2010 Tania Usher International
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About The Author
Tania Usher is an internationally renowned marketing communication strategist, business coach, author, speaker and adventurer. Her company Tania Usher International is dedicated to providing communication expertise and innovative solutions to accelerate results and positive transformation for entrepreneurs and businesses worldwide. Tania aims to touch as many lives as possible with her authentic and ‘from the heart’ get NAKED approach to business where she strips back the hype to expose raw and uncut strategies for life, business and success.
Go now to http://www.taniausherinternational.com
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Take a look in the mirror and ask yourself “Am I taking 100% responsibility for EVERYTHING that is happening in my life”? It can be very confronting yet one of the most empowering steps to happiness and success.