Success! Take Responsibility and Wield Your Power

When working toward improving ourselves, few things are more important for success than assuming personal responsibility for our progress and results. When the going gets tough it is easy to look outside ourselves, to our surrounds, peers or life circumstances, for the causes of shortcomings and solutions to problems. While these external factors are often out of our control, internal factors such as thoughts, emotions and behaviors experienced in response to a situation are well within our realm of influence. Owning a position of personal responsibility for what we experience in life provides us with tremendous power to shape our successes.

Whether they are health related, professional, social or other, the outcomes we experience in life are built on the occurrence of a specific event combined with our response to that event. In other words, outcome is largely influenced by perception; not only composed of what actually occurs externally, but also how that occurrence is perceived and processed internally. This can be considered in the form of an equation:

E + R = O (Event + Response = Outcome)

While influence over an external event (E) will often be limited, we can always control how we respond or react (R) to the event. In turn, we can control the outcome.

For example, an individual has been working toward lowering blood pressure by exercising more, eating more fruits and vegetables and drinking less alcohol. Upon his next blood pressure measurement he sees that there has been no change. This unfortunate “event” in combination with a reaction of frustration, denial, anger and placing blame externally creates an outcome of perceived failure and reduced self-worth that will ultimately knock him off the track toward his goal. Alternatively he may respond to this event by recognizing all the good that has come of his efforts - increased energy, reduced weight, clearer cognition and improved familial relationships – creating a positive outcome of partial success that will further encourage him toward his ultimate goal. By taking responsibility for his experience he shapes his success in improving his health.

So next time you experience some turbulence in working toward your health goals, aim to shift your perspective and connect with a more considerate response to your situation. Recognize the positive that has come of the steps you have taken. Take responsibility, control your response, wield your power and shape your success!

Reference: Canfield, Jack. The Success Principles. Collins: New York. 2005.