Tell me if this excuse sounds familiar.
Them "Why were you late?"
You "Traffic. "
There are many avenues to being successful. It all starts in the same place.
Being the best you. Being the best you requires a task most of us would rather avoid.
Self Reflection.
Not the, simple task associated with easy days, but the complex one when the world throws you a brick disguised as a curve ball.
Yeah...that one.
I would love to say that traveling the road of being the best you and self reflection was always an easy one.
I won't lie.
Yes, sometimes it is easier than others, but there will always be adversity and those OMG days.
You know. The ones where you want to tear your eyebrow hairs out one by one. Yep....those.
"The Crucible".
The Crucible is the place where you face the trial or tribulation of whatever adversity has graced (yes, I said graced, but I will explain that in a few I promise) your life.
And since no one is perfect, the odds are that you have had some contribution to where you are at that point. I am not saying you are to blame for "ALL" of your situation, but life has consequences and results.
"It wasn't me"
What determines which applies to you at that time will be the course of actions that led to that point.
Either before...or after.
Those choices....and what follows belong to you. Regardless if you it was "ALL" your fault or not. Here is the thing. The responsibility of what happened, regardless of who is to blame, still lies at your feet.
More importantly, there is only one person accountable for what has happened and what will happen going forward.
You.
Experience and knowledge often loses its value when one refuses to apply it. You can't apply it unless you acknowledge you had some part, even a small one, in what occurred.
"It wasn't me"
But if you don't.....well. There is a formula to being a victim. You can blame everyone and everything else for what happens in your life, or you can start to take some measure of responsibility and accountability and apply those lessons going forward.
Can we talk?
Adversity doesn't have to be always seen as a negative. Yes, it can be hard. It can make you want to cry and toss up your hands.
But....iron sharpens iron.
It is in those moments that your best self is revealed. If it were always easy, you would never improve.
No, I am not saying that you can only expect or strive to live in hard, tough days. What I am saying is adversity is both a curse and yes a blessing.
See? Graced.
That opportunity, when we fall down, is the only time we get to understand how fast we can get up.
But you have to be able to look at what you did, how you did it and what can you do differently next time.
Growth.
Takes self reflection. Takes accountability.
Get the message?
When you wake up, on your way to work, while you are at work. Everyday....all day. Your opponent is staring you in the face every time you go to the bathroom.
And the only true obstacle is your penchant for making excuses and a refusal to take responsibility and accountability.
Benjamin Franklin said "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result."
Here is my take. Isn't that what we do if we refuse to take accountability for our contribution?
Let that marinate for a sec. Chew....then swallow.
There isn't always a next time, but if there is, and you have a new opportunity to be the best you....take it.
I say the same thing all of the time and today will be no different.
The choice belongs to you, so to do the results or the consequences.
Choose wisely.