When facing day to day business challenges, it is easy to lapse into the trap of becoming a victim of circumstances. We can end up blaming, justifying, rationalising or complaining to find a way to deal with the situation we find ourselves in. Although our problems faced are very real to us, only through shifting our perspective and taking responsibility for our situation and ourselves will we move from being “out of control” to taking ultimate responsibility.
Our level of success really is the result of our ability to choose and then take action.
Which side of the CAUSE => EFFECT equation do you currently truly believe you are on in the key areas of your business and life?
There are a number of schools of thought in Psychology that will lead us to believe that our behaviour is strongly determined by factors that seem to be out of our control – our genes, our upbringing, other people and the situation we find ourselves in.
However our power to choose is our greatest strength and gives us the opportunity to direct our lives.
One reason for Psychology’s traditional disregard of the notion of free will is because it is incompatible with the more deterministic approach favoured by many perspectives. It is believed to be more appropriate to follow a traditional Stimulus -Response model.
However, we are not simply stimulus response beings. We have some power to choose our response. In the late Steve Covey’s book – the 8th Habit, he speaks of the space that lies between a stimulus and a response.
It is in that space that we find our freedom to choose our response.
The size of the space is impacted by the factors mentioned previously – our genes, our upbringing, other people and the situation we find ourselves in. But the size of that space can be increased by building our power to choose our response to any situation and then acting based on this and not automatic reactions. We are in fact the only species that is able to become aware of our own thoughts. This presents us with the power to question and choose them and act accordingly.
Actions not only take us closer to where we want to be, but being in action also makes us feel stronger about ourselves. Taking responsibility for what is going on around us is very much key to this.
Which side of the CAUSE => EFFECT equation do you currently truly believe you are on in the key areas of your business and life?
If you find yourself often complaining about certain areas, you are on the EFFECT side of the equation.
If you are seeking to blame other people and circumstances for what is happening you are on the EFFECT side of the equation.
If you are seeking to justify or rationalise a situation you find yourself in by making excuses, you are again on the EFFECT side of the equation.
Only by making every attempt to take responsibility and act based on this, will you truly find yourself on the CAUSE side of this equation. You will build the space between the normal responses to those triggers and develop your power to choose.
Here is a tip:
Think about 3 areas of your life or business where you are currently on the EFFECT side of the equation.
What actions can you take from now to move yourself to the CAUSE side of the equation in these 3 areas?
Keep employing this tactic, because the degree to which you accept ultimate responsibility for what is currently going on in your life or business strongly influences your ultimate success!
If you would like to discuss how moving into action through 121 coaching or one of our groups can help keep you on track, I am happy to have a 30 minute call to offer some initial free advice. Just drop me a line or give me a call on 07912 143040.
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