Taking Responsibility

Taking action about our current station in life involves taking responsibility for our current state of affairs. When we acknowledge that we are the main culprits with regards to where we are now, we will more likely take responsibility for creating the future we desire.

Most of us grew up without learning to take responsibility for our state of affairs. Somebody else but us is always to blame. We play the blame game. We blame our spouses, our bosses, the economy, government, fate, the devil and other factors for our plight.

We have dreams, but we don't plan. When we manage to plan, we don't execute it. Among the few that go on to execute their plans, most give up at the first setback. We have ready-made reasons for why events turned out contrary to our expectations. Most return to Status Quo Boulevard and Grumble-Ville.

By refusing to take responsibility for your situation, you invariably transfer that responsibility to someone else to solve our problems. It is not our responsibility to fix it. It is someone else's. We wait and wait. We wait for the solution to come to us, instead of actively seeking it out. We become reactive, instead of proactive.

You are perpetually at Broke-Ville, always out of pocket for instance. Your take home pay abandons you midway in the month. You live paycheck to paycheck. In your subconscious, it is not your fault. It is your boss that refused to give you a promotion or a raise. It is the bad economy, inflation, high interest rates, oil prices or politicians. It is never your fault.

How will your situation improve? Well, since it is not your fault, the other guys have to do something. Pay raise, promotion, falling interest rates, low oil prices, lower bills, tax cuts, debt forgiveness etc. If all fails, win the lottery! All you need is for fate to deal you the right cards, and then your dreams will come true. It will get better, one day for sure?

It is natural to avoid responsibility. However, the tragedy is that when we refuse to take responsibility, we hand over our lives to others and chance. When we start taking responsibility, we begin doing something about it, like controlling our finances, creating multiple streams of income, networking, developing ourselves and moving towards the fulfillment of our dreams.

In any economy, you always have those that get bruised and battered by the vagaries of the economy, and those that rise no matter the general outlook. There are always risers and fallers, winners and losers; it has nothing to do with the whole system, but individual scenarios. It is the sum total of the individual scenarios that paint the picture of the entire economy.

Let's use the stock market as an illustration. Everyday at the floor of the exchange, prices of some stocks rise while others fall or remain the same. The index gives a total picture of what is going on. If the index rises, it means that the risers (bulls) are stronger than the fallers (bears). The same way, if the index is going down, it means the bears have taken center stage. This is a rather simplistic illustration, as not all companies in the exchange have equal contribution to the overall index.

So every day, some stock prices rise, while some fall. The interplay between the bulls and the bears gives the direction of the overall index, rising or falling. It does not mean that one day, all stock prices crash, and next day, they start climbing. Of course a bear market might trigger gloom, which may force rising stocks to dip, but that does not mean that all stock prices go the same direction.

Hence, blaming the economy for example is being escapist. Everyday, a millionaire is being made. We have to take responsibility and choose which camp we belong, winners or losers, bears or bulls. We cannot afford to leave that responsibility to circumstances, time and chance. We are wholly to blame for where we are right now. Our current position is a resultant of past decisions we made. Our future is being fashioned today.

I know lots of folks that would like to start a business. Each time I ask them why they have not started, I always get the same answer; lack of start up capital. They need that much money, but there is no one to borrow from, friend or foe, the banks are impossible etc. End of story. They leave it right there. It is not their fault that they have not started. It is always an uphill task to persuade them that money is an idea. The answer lies within them. There are many roads to Rome. There are many options on how to start a business without mega bucks. The limit is your imagination.

We cannot blame past abuses, color of our skin, bad luck and a whole lot of other things for where we are right now. How we respond to whatever adversity we face is our full responsibility. What we went through is not an excuse for doing the wrong things. We cannot do all the wrong things and blame the system for our lack of progress. The system did not make you do it, you did. The system did not shut down your brain, you did.

If we keep blaming external circumstances, we will find ourselves stuck in a rut, and going downhill. Pause for a moment and take a good look around. You will find out that others in the same situation have moved on. What seems to be your obstacle has become a stepping-stone to others. Success is the best revenge. Adverse circumstances should provoke us to greater heights, not drown us in depths of self-pity. Our attitude and outlook determines whether adverse circumstances make us better or bitter.

Life is not fair, it never has been, it will never will be. Nobody said it was. In life, you don't get what you deserve; you get what you negotiate for. Instead of whining at the cards life dealt you, work hard, keep playing till an ace turns up and then make very good use of it. Mother luck smiles at those who work hard, and are ready to grab opportunities when they present themselves.

It starts with taking responsibility. Responsibility for our actions, responses and inactions... If someone makes a derogatory remark about you, you have many choices. Curse back, smile and walk away, go ballistic etc. The other party cannot force you to become upset, you choose to.

Our choices determine whether our dreams will come true or not. Lets choose to take responsibility for our lives. Accept past mistakes, deal with it and move on. You are the reason you are jobless. You are the reason you are broke. You are the reason you are still stuck in the rat race. You are the reason you have not started that project or business. You are the reason your dreams have become a mirage. You are the man! Look no further.

Become pro-active. Get to work. Dream again. Study, plan and execute. Before long, you will find out that you are far away from where you started. It starts by taking responsibility.

Usiere Uko is the webmaster of the Financial Freedom Inspiration website and editor of the monthly Financial Freedom Inspiration Newsletter, a free ezine to inspire you to exit the rat race and fulfill your God given dreams. To subscribe or visit the site, please go to http://www.financial-freedom-inspiration.com