The Buck Stops Here ~ The Responsibility Decision

This winter at The Healthy Weigh we're traveling through time! We are "visiting" 7 prominent historical characters during the next 9 weeks, each of whom will teach us a valuable life lesson. Our theme comes from the book "The Travelers Gift" by Andy Andrews.  This week we visited Harry Truman, our 33rd President.  President Truman made the phrase "The Buck Stops Here" famous. The buck stops here, meaning responsibility is not passed on beyond this point.

One of the most pervasive myths in the American culture today is that we are entitled to a great life. That somehow, someone (certainly not us) is responsible for filling our lives with continual happiness, exciting career options, nurturing family time, and blissful relationships simply because we exist.

But the real truth, and the lesson we are going to be learning over the next weeks to come, is that there is only one person responsible for the quality of the life you live.

That person is you.

If you want to be successful at anything, you have to take 100% responsibility for everything that you experience in your life. This includes the level of your achievements, the results you produce, the quality of your relationships, the state of your health and physical fitness, your income, your debts, your feelings...everything!

That is not easy.

In fact, most of us have been conditioned to blame something outside of ourselves for the parts of our life we don't like. We blame our parents, our bosses, our friends, the media, our co-workers, our clients, our spouse, the weather, the economy, the President, our lack of money...anyone or anything we can pin the blame on. We never want to look at where the real problem is, ourselves.

To really be successful you have to give up all your excuses! If you want to create the life of your dreams, then you are going to have to take 100% responsibility for your life as well. That means giving up all your excuses, all your victim stories, all the reasons why you can't and why you haven't up until now, and all your blaming of outside circumstances. You have to give them up forever!

You have to take the position that you have always had the power to make it different, to get it right, to produce the desired result. For what ever reason, you chose not to exercise that power. Who knows why? It doesn't matter. The past is the past. All that matters now is that from this point forward you choose to act as if you are 100% responsible for everything that does or doesn't happen to you.  

If something doesn't turn out as planned, you will ask yourself, "How did I create that? What was I thinking?  What were my beliefs?  What did I say or not say? What do I need to do differently next time to get the results I want?"

It's simple.

You are the one who is creating your life the way it is. The life you currently live is the result of all of your past thoughts and actions. You are in charge of your current thoughts and your present feelings. You are in charge of what you say and what you do. You are also in charge of what goes into your mind. That's great news!

We must be willing to say...

"I accept responsibility for my past. I control my thoughts. I control my emotions. I am responsible for my success. The buck stops here!"

Until next week when we meet with King Solomon,

Always encouraging you,

Letha