THE ABILITY TO CHOOSE
One of the keys to success in life and what separates the human race from the animal kingdom, is that no matter what our circumstances may be, or what may happen to us, we have the ability to make a choice and decide what actions that we take.
I have recently been reading a book from Stephen Covey called the 8th Habit, in which Covey states “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space lies our freedom and power to choose our response. In those choices lie our growth and our happiness”
In other words, whatever may happen to us, there is a certain amount of time before we respond, that we can then choose our actions and our response.
It is this ability to choose our responses, that can give us our greatest power to have a successful and happy life, but to do this we must first recognise that we are truly in control of our own lives and give up the three biggest behaviours that stop us from leading the life of our dreams!!
PLAYING THE VICTIM
“Oh poor me!!!” “It’s not fair” “It’s not my fault” “Wa, Wa Wa!!!!”
Playing the victim and not taking responsibility for your own life is the surest way to poverty and an unhappy life that there is!!
Sure stuff happens, life can test us, but we must be accountable for our own actions if we truly want to take control of our lives.
PLAYING THE BLAME GAME
“It’s the government’s fault” “It’s my boss” “It’s my spouse” “It’s the weather” “It’s my parents” BOO HOO HOO!!!
Playing the blame game and making it everyone else’s fault instead of being accountable, will once again lead you down the path of anger and unhappiness!
Like playing the victim, we must remain accountable for our own actions and responses and not start pointing the finger at others!
Bad marriage? You got yourself into it! Share price plunged? You bought the shares! Bad investment advice? You took the advice!
Someone run into your car? Technically you are not at fault, but you ARE responsible for how you react!!
COMPLAINING
Complaining is the absolute WORST thing you can do for your HEALTH or your WEALTH!!
Complaining is contagious!!
Ever been talking to someone that moans and groans about everything, then you start to join in?
The best thing you can do is stay away from these people and not to give in to complaining, it does you no good and just makes you miserable!!
In fact for the next 30 days, take my challenge and try NOT complaining for a full 30 days.
If you catch yourself complaining for more than 30 seconds, start over from day 1! Stick to it for a full 30 days and it will change your life!!!
IN SUMMARY
Once again, one of the keys to success, is our ability to make a choice, be accountable and take responsibility for our own actions.
Until we start to do this, and eliminate playing the victim, blaming and complaining, we will never achieve the success that we are truly capable of!
Remember it is OUR choice!!!
If you have any questions or comments, leave them below, I will be happy to help!
Again I am John Newman, and always remember, Dream It… Believe It… Then you can Achieve It!!!
Awesome post John and I like the way you have worded things 🙂 People do have choices in life but when they make the wrong ones, they tend to blame somebody else.
However, when we choose to work on our fortunes from home, it gives us the choice of telling the boss where to stick it. Many people complain about their jobs and financial situations but don’t want to do anything about it…
At least we are 😉
I urge anyone who is reading this post to make the change today and improve your life OR keep living the way you’re living.
Neil
Fantastic feedback Neil, thankyou so much!
The one freedom we all truly have is the ability to make a choice!!!