"You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself."
Sunday, September 6, 2009
-- Jim Rohn, America's foremost business philosopher
To achieve something, we have to be in control of something, otherwise everything we achieve is just mere coincidence or pure luck. Come to think about it, we cannot totally control our environment or the people around us but we can totally control how we react to our environment and to the people around us so that we will achieve our goals in life.
In his book, "The Success Principles, How to Get from Where Your Are to Where You Want to Be", Jack Canfield shared the formula of Dr. Robert Resnick, a psychotherapist in Los Angeles, that supports this principle.
E + R = O
(Event + Response = Outcome)
This formula shows the factors that will determine what will happen to us in the future. Events represents situations and people that will cross your path as you journey towards your goals in life. Situation and people sometimes presents challenges and problems that might hinder you. But really the situation or the people are not really your main enemy but yourself, how you will react to the challenge: will you move on or will you give-up and stop trying. You decision will determine you outcome.
Mario is junior engineer. Due to financial need he wanted to be promoted in his work in order to get a higher salary. After setting this goal he started working harder, making sure his work is accurate and that his recommendations are correct and very good. He also started making initiatives in their office to improve process.
One day, Ricky, his officemate got promoted. Mario knew Ricky very well, and he believed that he was more deserving to be promoted. Because of this event, Mario got depressed and became discouraged. As a result his performance level started go down, he started missing reports and stopped following through his initiatives. He stopped giving his best in his work resulting to some errors and mistakes. Eventually, he lost interest in his work, and resigned after a month.
Did Mario reach his goal? Of course not. Mario's response (stopped giving his best) to the event (Ricky's promotion) was responsible for the outcome (not getting the promotion he aimed for). The promotion of Ricky was not Mario's business whatsoever. He could have reached his goal no doubt had he chosen a better response which is to congratulate Ricky, and continue giving his best. He could even ask Ricky for some tips.
Bottom line, it is your response to people and situation that defines our success and failure in life. The good news is that you have a good measure of control over your response, so chose your response wisely.
PS: To read more powerful quote, quotes, quotations, and insightful reflections, click HERE. To learn more about performance success, how to succed in life, success principles, winning in life, creative, creativity, good ideas, becoming a winner, the "I can" attitude, success factor, success factors, and winning, click HERE.
