Choosing to own your life

DON’T TAKE RESPONSIBILITY AND LEAD YOURSELF …

Choosing OWNERSHIP is a foundation 21st Century Future Skill – it is the mindset that guides you towards success.

Next time you find yourself complaining or blaming at work reflect on the position you have chosen and what it means.

THE VICTIM’s CHOICE

It is hard to put managing my life and career on my to do list – let alone at the top of it! Life is just too busy, with too many urgent and important things to do now.

I am more concerned with staying in control, reducing the sense of overwhelm, pleasing my boss, surviving the here and now, and paying the bills than indulging in self help and planning for something that just won’t happen! I need to stay real and I have not got time!

So what does it mean NOT to be an Owner or Leader of my own life story?

I am a passenger in someone else’s story; or a victim; or a spectator; or a persecutor; or a comfort seeker; or invisible; or unlucky; or a rescuer; or someone who rarely delivers on their commitments to themselves; or I am an opportunity missed; or I am the dreams that remain as distant shores rather than guiding lights on my journey; or I am vulnerable in the wrong way!

I am caught up with the struggles of my life, blown about by events and ruled by other people’s agendas, priorities, plans and dreams.

Hey but, there are benefits too – it feels good; it is comfortable; it feels safe; it is what is best for me right now; when things go wrong I can blame someone else; it gives me time to think and plan but not do; I get a great view to watch everything around me from the back of the bus; I get to keep other people happy; I can just focus on doing a good job and keeping my head down; and I can settle because life is OK most of the time. I can deal with the future when I come to it.

MY CHOICE:

This is a strong narrative in the world around me especially in the mainstream media. Victim does not lead me anywhere worth going. This is not me because I consciously choose to be an OWNER everyday and drive my own bus! When I slip I notice and change my state. It is easy to slip!

Remember:

“As you look back on your life so far, you will see that you always had two basic ways of being. At any given time, you were either one way, or you were the other; you were either an owner of the human spirit, or you were a victim of circumstances.

One way, the ownership way, reinvents you as you go. It reinvents you outward, in an ever-expanding circle of compassion, vision, and courage.

The other way (the victim way) shrinks you down. Just as your muscles shrink when they are not moving, so do your heart and soul when you are in victim mode…”

Steve Chandler from Reinventing You

So who is driving your bus today?

It is easy to focus on others and lay the blame elsewhere. What if you just said ‘It is what it is’ and took full responsibility for what happens next?

OWNERSHIP = Everything SELF + Design Builder + Responsible + Brand Builder + Change Agent

#work #selfresponsibility #futureskills