Are You Playing the Blame Game?
Successful people take full responsibility for their wins and their losses. The don’t play the blame game. They refuse to go through life finger-pointing and making excuses. They are pro-active instead of reactive, moving forward toward their goals and dreams and taking responsibility for every step of the journey. They refuse to play the victim. Instead, they use the lessons learned in the school of hard knocks as stepping-stones to greatness rather than as a crutch for mediocrity.
Are You Making Progress or Excuses?
It is all too easy to make excuses for our problems, hardships, character flaws, and just about everything else. But when you make excuses, you can’t make progress! When you play the victim, you inevitably surround yourself with anger, resentment and negative thoughts. These lead to stress, fatigue, depression and other chronic diseases. If you’re going to succeed in life and in business, you have to “own” your current reality… the good, the bad, and the ugly! Only then can you take action to change your circumstances!
7 Signs That You’re Playing “The Blame Game”
Are you playing “The Blame Game”? Consider the following seven questions carefully and honestly to determine how you may be avoiding personal responsibility.
- Do you find it hard to admit when you’re wrong? (And more importantly, would the people who know you best agree with your answer?)
- Do you focus a lot on the past instead of looking toward the future?
- Do you use other people’s irresponsible behaviour to justify your own? (For example, “They’re driving way over the speed limit, so why shouldn’t I?”)
- Do you find it difficult to apologize to others? Do you view apologizing as a sign of weakness or as a sign of strength?
- Do you believe life is unfair and often feel sorry for yourself?
- Do you view negative occurrences/relationships in your life as being out of your control? Do you see yourself as a victim?
- Do you feel powerless to change anything in your life for the better?
Take Responsibility For Your Life Now!
We all make the mistake of blaming others and making excuses from time to time, but the key to living a successful life is accepting personal responsibility for our choices and our actions. Here are a few tips to start taking great ownership of your life…
- Apologize when you’re wrong and accept the fact that you’re not always right!)
- Admit when you’ve made a mistake.
- Learn to forgive and let go of the past.
- Be open to the ideas and opinions of others. Your viewpoint is not the only valid one.
- Identify the things in your life that you’re not happy about, and do something to change them.
- Practice saying, “I am responsible” until you start to believe it.
- Take smart risks, and realize that you are responsible for the outcomes.
- Adopt a positive outlook on life (i.e. the glass is half-full as opposed to half-empty).
- Recognize and embrace your own shortcomings, and ask others for help when you need it.
Take full responsibility for your life and business. Don’t play the blame game and don’t make excuses. Make progress. Start now.
Eric Deschamps | Ottawa Business Coach
P.S. For more on taking responsibility, see my post on “Do You Really Own Your Business?”
Founder/President of Breakthrough Coach
“Helping others succeed has always been my passion. There is no greater feeling in the world than coming alongside someone and empowering them to achieve their goals and dreams.” I work with individuals with a single and simple purpose: to help them define and attain their goals, one step at a time. Through the coaching relationship, I help business owners and professionals achieve more by delivering world-class growth strategies, tools and advice individually tailored to each owner and his/her business.
