Taking 100 Percent Responsibility of Your Life

Taking 100% responsibility for your life is taking ownership of it. The choice is yours!

“Responsibility is the price of greatness.” – Winston Churchill

An event, whether positive or negative, does not determine your outcome or your response. The meaning you give the event is what determines your outcome or response. It’s your reaction to the action that becomes the catalyst to what comes next. It can be destructive and debilitating, or it can be abundant and fulfilling. What type of fuel will you choose to use in order to take positive steps and achieve success?

First, it’s time to stop the blaming, shaming, complaining, justifying, and wallowing in self-pity. Instead, it’s time to take your life back by taking 100% responsibility for your life. This is something I’ve learned from a co-author and mentor in life, Jack Canfield. In fact, it is one of the principles he covers in his book “The Success Principles”.

“You are who you are today, and will be who you will be tomorrow because of the actions you take or the excuses you make.” – Kevin Klimowski

We have all been given an opportunity in life. It’s how we interpret it, shape it, apply it (or not) that makes the difference. That’s why some of the poorest of the poor have become the richest of the rich. These are the people who took advantage of the opportunities to become successful. Did they face adversity, roadblocks, failures, and doubts? Sure. But instead of blaming others or life they took responsibility for themselves and achieved their level personal of success.

Life is full of examples of people who overcame disabilities, illness, challenges, and setbacks. All too often in the world today there are people who never want to own up to their actions or even carry out their responsibilities. Once you reach a certain age in your life, you must carry on as an adult and dive headfirst into a world of important decisions. Especially when you think of life decisions that will mold your future, you must take complete responsibility for your actions and choices. You have to stop justifying and blaming if you want to achieve any great level of success in your lifetime.

“We can let circumstances rule us, or we can take charge and rule our lives from within.” – Earl Nightingale

Life is full of learning experiences. If you are not able to learn from mistakes you’ve made, then you are cheating yourself out of some of the most valuable lessons. Character building comes from realizing you have made a mistake, owning up to any situation that you may have caused, and then finding the best possible way to make everything better again. People are quick to point the finger in order to get out of all kinds of sticky situations. However, it is the people who do not turn and run from their responsibilities that become great leaders, excellent parents and are successful in life.

Can society and the ever-intrusive media be the cause of the destruction of integrity and responsibility in the world, as we know it today? Of course! It is the knowledge of just how you can do your part in order to make a change in the world that is most important.

Certainly we are all only human and it is within the nature of humanity to make mistakes. Looking back on your past, owning up to it and taking responsibility for yourself can help to eliminate repeat performances in the future. You are only one person, yet when you show others how to rise above, you are a force to be reckoned with. You are not changing – we can’t change the past. Instead, you are evolving. You are coming forth gradually into being. You are developing yourself, and undergoing a transitional improvement for the betterment of your life.

“You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself. That is something you have charge of.” – Jim Rohn

Only YOU can either stop or start you. So make the commitment and take ownership of your life, take 100% responsibility!

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Living Fabulously …With Integrity, Honesty & Authenticity

“No legacy is as rich as honesty.”

William Shakespeare

To live fabulously with integrity, honesty and authenticity you must first embrace the qualities of each, match your beliefs internally to them and continue to make a daily decision to live by them through your words and actions. Integrity is the adherence to moral and ethical principles, and the soundness of moral character. Honesty is the quality of being honest; uprightness and fair; it’s about truthfulness, sincerity and being free from deceit or fraud. And, authenticity  is about being genuine, trustworthy and reliable. I feel that it starts inside, within the essence of our being, and  flows outside where it thrives when it is in alignment with our talk and our actions; they should mirror each other. Although these are very critical traits, living a life that is grounded with honesty, integrity and authenticity is very possible. If you think it’s hard then it will be. If you know in your heart that this is what you want, then set a clear intention to be “that person” and create your legacy with those principles.As you go throughout your life, there are many obstacles that will come your way and the manner in which you deal with them will have a great deal of impact on your level of integrity. Of course, you can go through life cutting corners in order to get ahead or even tell a couple of white lies when you feel as though you have the need. However, are you really doing yourself any favors by having this type of outlook on life? Are you a wolf in sheep’s clothing? 

If you had any solid background while you were growing up, then you probably learned the major differences between wrong and right. However, there are many people that dance on the edge of doing what is right and what is convenient to them at the time. In order to truly live an authentic life that is filled with integrity and honesty you have to remember to treat others surrounding you in a manner in which you would expect to be treated. This idea can apply to both your personal and professional life and as a matter of fact, both your personal and professional life are related in a sense when you are speaking of integrity and honesty.

“Integrity is the essence of everything successful.”

R. Buckminster Fuller

When you look at how you want to live your life, you will surely see that there are a number of ways that you can take on the situations that come your way. Think of some of the factors that mold you into the person who you are and the person who you would like to become. Do you have trust? A trust in yourself and what you can achieve is definitely important. At the same time, if others have trust in you then you are going to see many more doors opening for you when it comes to potential opportunities that are going to boost your finances.

“One of the most important ways to manifest integrity is to be loyal to those who are not present. In doing so, we build the trust of those who are present.”

Steven R. Covey

Take pride in what you do. When you have a strong sense of pride in the way that people think of you along with the characteristics that you posses then you will see your reputation growing exponentially. The last thing you will want is to see your reputation suffering any sort of blow that will make your friends, family or colleagues think any less of you. Taking great pride in yourself as a person as well as all of the accomplishments in your life will help to mold you into a person that oozes integrity. It also becomes your natural authenticity which is really how you think of yourself. When you are truly authentic you understand that the “camera is always on” regardless of anyone else being in your physical presence. You are authentic always, even when nobody is watching.

Always be sure to care for each and every relationship within your life. You can almost use the comparison of relationships to plants or flowers in that you have to nurture them in order for them to grow. Once your good relationships grow, you will be able to later reap the benefits. Sure, it is easy to say that you are an authentic, honest person with integrity that others can look up to. However, those are simply words if your actions do not fall in line.

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”

John F. Kennedy

People associate with the people they know, like and trust. When you live in integrity, authenticity and honesty more and more people will want to be around you, and partner and do business with you. Your success is complimented by being successful and your legacy is built upon fabulous traits that will long be remembered, respected and loved.

Make it a fabulous day!

Jodi Nicholson is an Inspirational Speaker, Consultant and Certified Master Coach. With her entrepreneurial spirit, Jodi specializes in Life & Business Coaching, Motivation and Success and has been self-employed in the personal and professional development arena for over 25 years. She shares her passion for helping others in her private coaching practice, trainings and certification classes through the Success Coach Institute. Learn more at http://jodinicholson.com