Accept Personal Responsibility

“You can only be proud of the things you earn.”

– Jeff Bezos

When things don’t go well, accept full responsibility because no matter the circumstances or outside influences, the choice to do or not to do is completely up to you.

The same goes for when things DO go well. Accept full responsibility because for things to go well, you will have had to make the decisions and follow the proper disciplines to succeed at your current undertaking.

It is often people feel as though they are an imposter to their own success. This idea makes sense beyond intellectual understanding because for someone to accept they have done well would also require them to accept responsibility for when they have not done well.

Herein lay the greatest gift of wisdom the great Jim Rohn passed along. “A sign of true maturity is not only to take full responsibility for when things don’t go so well, but to accept full responsibility when they do go well, too.”

It is up to us to look ourselves in the mirror and ask;

“Did I do everything I could to create the outcome I desired?”

If the answer is yes, it is up to the person in the mirror to congratulate oneself and keep moving forward in the desirable direction.

If the answer is no, it is up to the person in the mirror to take full responsibility to live in integrity to find out why… to find out what choice they made… to find out what action they took… to find out what part they personally played in the current outcome they received.

There are always outside circumstances. The natural laws of the universe say there are challenges and adversities along the way. Yet, these challenges are not designed to stop progress, but to provide the strength in which to stimulate growth into progress.

The act of earning the progress creates joy and happiness, not in begging for the external validation to cover the fears, doubts, and insecurities of the inadequacies which lay within those who seek only the comfort and conveniences of short term pleasure. 

The begging and receiving validation proves to erode self worth at a far greater pace than if one were to smash their face running directly toward their dreams.