Accept Total Responsibility

Own Your Position in Life

Our current position in life is the culmination of our past decisions and events. It’s a combination of the situations that have taken place in our life and how we have responded or reacted to them. In other words, we are living in the residual of our past decisions and those decisions were based on our way of thinking.

If you are perfectly happy with all areas of your life and you feel there is no room for improvement than here is my advice. Enjoy those rose colored glasses your wearing. Because the minute you take them off you will realize that there is always room for improvement. Human potential is unlimited, therefore the room to grow is always waiting to occupied.

Taking time to reflect periodically is always a great way to identify areas of opportunity for personal and professional growth. It’s during reflection that our inner voice can be heard loud and clear as it tells us about a void that needs to be filled. Maybe it’s an area of life that needs mending or a desire to try something different or learn something new. Life is constantly in flux, that is why it’s called a journey, and along the way, from time to time we are presented with gaps in our lives. Gaps come in various sizes and thy can be found at work or at home. Challenges can and will present themselves in finances, relationships, spirituality or any other area of life and when they do, they leave a gap.

In taking responsibility for helping to create the gap, you are given the power to close the gap.

The challenge always resides in figuring out how you will bridge the gap. The first thing you want to do, using your analytical mind and your imagination is to picture yourself standing on the edge of the proverbial gap in your life. As you stand there and look across that divide, the first action is to recognize and accept responsibility for any and all choices you have made that contributed to the creation of this gap. Response-ability is your ability to respond to anything in life the attitude of personal duty and a position of authority that is willing to take ownership for the outcome in front of you. In taking responsibility for creating the gap, you are given the power to manage the gap, and to close the gap.

Accepting total responsibility for our past decisions is also a great reminder that our power to choose, is the brush that we use to paint each day of our lives. Accepting responsibility for our past allows us to tap into and fully own our power in the present, allowing us to become the artist of our lives. Capable of creating a masterpiece.

There is only space for one person in the driver’s seat, at the steering wheel of your life and that seat belongs to you. You may have heard that the definition of insanity is repeating the same thing over-and-over again, but expecting a completely different result. If you want to experience things differently on the outside you have to change things on the inside. One is a direct reflection of the other. When you alter the way you think, you will alter what you perceive, and when you alter your perception you will alter your choices. When you alter your choices you alter your life.

Lead yourself to success. Taking full responsibility for your past, present and future is taking on a position of leadership. You take responsibility for leading you. John Maxwell is a leading authority on leadership and he teaches that the hardest form of leadership is self-leadership. The most difficult person to lead in your life is you. I would add that it’s impossible to lead yourself without first placing responsibility on yourself. Self-accountability makes visible the pathway to self-leadership.

Gilbert Arland has been quoted many times for saying this. When an archer misses the mark, he turns and looks for the fault within himself. Failure to hit the bullseye is never the fault of the target. To improve your aim, improve yourself. Along this same vein I would also add that, in comparing the shooting of a bow, to the actions of your life. It’s critical to keep your thinking arrows sharp and your aim responsibly focused.