Take Responsibility

Personal responsibility is a characteristic lacking in many. Ever since the Garden of Eden, when Adam blamed Eve, and Eve blamed the serpent for their disobedience, humans have been playing the blame game. Rather than accept personal responsibility for their lives they would rather pass the buck to others for the place they find themselves.

The fact is the sooner you accept personal responsibility, the sooner you begin to excel in life. All high achievers have learned the value of accepting personal responsibility. They understand “If its to be, its up to me.”

You are the only person that can determine your future. It is your responsibility to be happy, to be proactive rather than reactive, to step out and do something about your situation in life.

I am responsible for the person I am today as well as the person I am becoming.
While there are many things that have an impact on who I am and who I become, ultimately if I am going to be a better person than I am right now, it’s up to me. As Robert Schuller says, “If it’s to be, it’s up to me.” Change will only happen in my life when I make the decision for it to. Regardless of how others try to influence me to be all I can be, it is my responsibility to do so.

I am responsible for my choices and my actions.
Flip Wilson made a fortune with, and popularized the saying, “The devil made me do it!” While that may be a funny line, it is far from the truth. In reality no one can make me do anything I don’t want to do. To blame others for where I am in life is simply to make excuses for my lack of making the right choices and doing the right things. I am where I am in life today as a result of my decisions and actions of yesterday.

I am responsible for my attitude.

Did you know attitudes like measles are evident to everyone around you? How you view life and the perspective you have of life is solely dependant on you and you alone. If you want to you can be an up person in a down world. I’ve heard people say when they have a bad attitude, “I guess I got up on the wrong side of the bed.” With the disposition they display most of us wish they had never gotten up! The good news however is you don’t have to have a bad attitude and be a pain in everyone’s neck. Recognize you are in control of your attitude, no one else. Choose to be more optimistic and pleasing in your relationships with others.

I am responsible for the attitude I bring to my work.

A lot of people bring their home problems with them to work. As a result of their personal frustrations, anger and disillusions of their home life, they are not as effective as they could be. I have found that people that get ahead in life have developed the knack for compartmentalizing their life. They have learned to focus on the task at hand and to give it their all. Determine to leave your home problems where they belong, at home. After all stewing and worrying all day about the problems you are facing will not change them at all. So make the decision to come to work with a good, positive, upbeat attitude.

I am responsible for my relationships.

As stated at the beginning of this chapter, ever since the Garden of Eden mankind has played the blame game. After all, it’s easier to blame others or circumstances for trouble in relationships, then it is to take a good hard look at ourselves and then admit that we aren’t perfect. My mother told me along time ago, “It takes two too tango.” In other words relationships are a two way street. If I am going to develop and maintain good relationships, whether it the family or at work, I am going to have to do my part to make them work. That means I may have to make some changes in how I treat others and how I expect to be treated. Usually if there is a breakdown in a relationship it is because someone failed act responsibly and do there part to make it work.

I am responsible for the quality of my communication.

Communication is the bedrock of success in all areas of life. Perhaps no other culprit is as destructive as a lack of communication. Communication involves more than just talking on your part. It involves listening, empathizing, and understanding what the other party is saying. While we must seek to be understood and to understand during the communication process, we must also be cognizant of how we say things. So what we say, and how we say it, are equally important. Our volume, tone of voice, body language, and facial expressions are all part of the communication process. I must seek to be kind, considerate and understanding of the person or persons I am communicating with.

I am responsible for my happiness.

Since I am in control of my life, I can be happy regardless of what’s going on in my life, if I choose too. As with many things, happiness is an attitude. As a Christian I can be happy because I have the joy of the Lord inside me. Happiness does not come from what I have or don’t have, it comes from knowing who I am, what my purpose in life is, and in doing what I was created to do.

I am responsible for my financial situation.

My financial condition is a direct result of my financial literacy, work habits and personal discipline. While there are times when bad things happen to good people and as a result they face a financial setback, for the most part people struggle financially because they don’t have a good grasp of how money works. They don’t understand the need for financial planning, setting financial goals, learning to invest, paying their bills on time, and saving for the future. If I want to become financially free, where I don’t work for money but instead money works for me, then I must seek to become financially literate.

I am responsible for my mistakes.

Any mistake I have ever made was of my own volition. I either did what I knew better than to do or didn’t know what to do in the first place. Even if I followed the advice of others or allowed them to pressure me to do something I wasn’t comfortable with, ultimately I am responsible for my actions. The sooner you recognize that you are responsible for the mistakes you’ve made in life the sooner you can do something to change the. Now let me say right here, don’t allow yourself to get bogged down in great sorrow for the mistakes you’ve made, and for goodness sakes, don’t hold a perpetual pity party because of them. Learn from them, let them go, forgive yourself and get on with your life.

I am responsible for my personal success.

No matter how much someone else may want to see you succeed in life, no matter how much they encourage and motivate you, no matter how much they try to help you, only you can make the decision to be successful. If I am going to be successful I am going to have to do the right things the right way in a consistent manner. I am going to have to set goals, make plans, work hard and not quit if I want to have success in life. Success belongs to everyone but not everyone will enjoy it because they aren’t willing to do what it takes to have it.

Persistence: The Key to Success

Persistence: The Key to Success

How many people do you know that have stopped just short of reaching their goal? How many times have you stopped short of what you desired to see become a reality? Unfortunately, the number is greater than it should be. Many times just one more try would have meant victory instead of defeat.

Persistence is defined as “continued effort or tenacity.” It is not accepting defeat and continuing on inspite of the obstacles in your path. It is doing the right thing, the right way consistently.

Throughout scripture we are admonished to be people of persistence. The writer of the book of Hebrews wrote, “That you be not slothful, but followers of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” (Hebrews 6:12) The word patience could also be translated persistence. In this particular scripture, the word patience does not imply putting up with or coping with the circumstances at hand. Rather it means to continue doing what you are doing until the desired results are yours.

Scripture gives us Abraham as our example of a man who through faithful persistence received the fulfillment of God’s promises to him. (Hebrews 6:13-15) Abraham, the father of the faithful, had to persist in faith for twenty-five years before he saw the physical manifestation of God’s promise to him.

We live in an instant society. We tend to want everything, and we want it right now. When we don’t see what we are praying and believing for in a short period of time, we are apt to become discouraged and give up. Many times we give up just short of what God promised us becoming a reality.

If you are going to be successful at whatever it is that God has called you to do, you must become a person of persistence. You need bulldog faith. Bulldog faith is “faith that won’t let go!” Winston Churchill is reported to have said, “The reason a bulldogs nose is slanted backwards, is so that he can breathe without letting go.”

Here are some keys for developing persistence:

Keep your eyes on the goal.

You cannot lose sight of where you are going. It is imperative that you remain focused. Do not allow yourself to be distracted. God told Joshua “do not turn to the right hand or to the left. that you may prosper wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:7)

Believe that you will meet with success.

There is nothing more powerful that positive faith. Jesus said, “All things are possible to him that believes.” (Mark 9:23) The great motivator and trainer Dale Carnegie said, “Believe that you will succeed. Believe it firmly, and you will then do what is necessary to bring success about.”

Maintain a positive attitude.

When the going gets tough sometimes it is easy to lose perspective. Your attitude, which is your perspective or how you see things, must remain positive if you are going to succeed. You must look past the negative circumstances and see the victory that is yours if you will but persist. Paul wrote, “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal and the things which are not seen are eternal.” (II Corinthians 4:18) In other words, don’t look at what is, but rather at what can be. Keep the right attitude.

Have a made up mind.

You must be determined. Determined people win in life because they don’t allow anything to break their focus. The great baseball manager Tommy Lasorda once said, “The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a man’s determination.” Someone else said, “It was through persistence that the snail got to the ark!”

Find someone to stand in agreement with you.

“Two are better than one, and a threefold cord is not easily broke.” (Ecclesiastes 4:12) There is something powerful when you have others to stand with you on the path to success. There is strength in unity. You must understand that you cannot make it without the assistance of others. Successful people, regardless of their position in life, understand the value of teamwork. Together we stand, divided we fall.

Are You Determined?

Nothing is more powerful than a made up mind. In order to achieve greatness, determination is required. Someone once said, “A determined person will do more with a rusty monkey wrench, than a loafer will accomplish with all the tools of a machine shop.”

You win or lose because of your determination or lack thereof. Determined people are able to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds to win in life. Malcolm Forbes said, “Your degree of determination determines your outcome.”

Ten things about determined people:

• Determined people don’t know how to take the word “no” for an answer. Their philosophy of life is, “Find a way or make one.”
• Determined people refuse to quit until they win. Their philosophy of life is “Nothing can stop me or keep me from winning. Victory belongs to me.”
• Determined people realize that success comes little by little. Their philosophy is “Inch by inch anything’s a cinch!”
• Determined people are not moved by what they see around them. Their philosophy of life is, “We walk by faith not by sight.” They choose to see what can be, instead of what is.
• Determined people choose to be positive. Their philosophy of life is, “Positive anything is better than negative nothing!”
• Determined people expect a positive outcome. Their philosophy of life is, “You get what you expect.”
• Determined people understand the value of goal setting. Their philosophy of life is, "You can’t hit it if you don’t aim at it!”
• Determined people believe in the value of planning. Their philosophy of life is, “Plan your work and work your plan.”
• Determined people believe that success comes in cans not cannots. Their philosophy of life is, “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.”
• Determined people associate with winners. Their philosophy of life is, “Iron sharpens iron.” They recognize that you become better by being around better people.