By: Dr. Sanjay Kumar Agarwal, Sr. Associate Editor, ICN Group
(In the past article, we knew about how to identify what legacy you would like to leave behind you. Today, we will know how you can construct your own life by understanding the need & benefits of taking responsibility of your life.)
Take responsibility of your life
Joan Didion says, “the willingness to accept responsibility for one’s own life is the source from which self-respect springs.”
A man is outcome of his choice made over a period of time. So, I would invite you to understand that whatever good or bad your past & present may be, it is because of your conscious choices made over a period of time; and if you want to change something in certain area of your life, you have to take the responsibility to correct your choices and actions. You have to identify what choices you NEED to make right now so as to design future of your dreams. It is in your hands.
Successful people always say that I am a self-made man. Have you ever heard any unsuccessful man saying that I am self-made failure? Everybody says I am unsuccessful because of my luck, circumstances, opportunities, parents, spouse, boss, age, religion, caste, country, etc.
You have to understand that nothing is going to change, if you keep on waiting for environment to change. You have to become CEO of your company at psychological levels. Take pledge that you will not blame others for anything and accept the responsibility of your life and start doing whatever is required to achieve your goals. Ask yourself, if you are the CEO of your company, would you like to invest in the shares of your company; do you consider yourself as a growth stock?
Identify, which is the biggest problem in your life today, blocking your progress. Then identify, whether you have to blame yourself for this situation. Often people continue blaming others for their woes but on deep introspection, they find something wrong with themselves. Once you identify your own wrongs, it becomes easy to take corrective steps. Remember you are not only designer of the life of your dreams; you are also the main motivating and creative force behind each of your dream.
If you choose to make a decision to take responsibility of your life, you will be committed to learn the skills you need to be learnt; you will practice the behaviour which is required to be practiced; you will focus upon the things, which will take you towards achieving success; you will always focus upon the solutions, not on excuses. On the contrary, if you are not committed and don’t take responsibility of your life and your choices, you will keep on blaming others for your setbacks or failures; you will find causes of failure in your bad luck or circumstances.
If you take responsibility of your life, you will understand the importance of preparation and practice. Remember, your true potential is unlimited; and whatever you have achieved so far, is just preparatory for manifestation of that unlimited potential. I take an example. Suppose you are a doctor practising for the past 10 years. You remember the period when you were studying for medical field. All the years, you were just preparing. A base was created and at due time, you became the doctor. Similarly, you should look at your practice for the past 10 years as preparatory for the upcoming great life. You should visualise yourself at a certain position and use your present experience as preparatory. Same logic applies to every field or profession. More & more you practise in any field, your preparation for manifestation of your greatness gets better & better.
However, I suggest that never target to be number 1 in your field because you can’t control progress of the others. Your competition is with yourself. You have to improve yourself by becoming better & better than ever before. I would suggest that you should set a realistic goal of becoming such an expert of your field that you are counted in top 10% peers of your field.
(In the next article, we will touch a very crucial topic i.e. how to take calculated risks while taking big decisions in life. I believe that you are enjoying the journey towards the future of your dreams with me. If yes, please stay tuned every Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday. Happy G.O.P.T.A.)
Dr. Sanjay Kumar Agarwal, Creator & copyright holder of the concept G.O.P.T.A.© is an Author, Certified NLP Lifestyle Master Practitioner, Corporate Trainer & Motivational Speaker and recipient of Honorary Doctorate of Excellence (Management) by prestigious Young Scientist University, California, USA. He is Founder of ‘Read, Learn & Earn Movement’ and is popularly known among his fans & followers across the globe as ‘Time and Goal Guru’.
