Sep 02 2007
First of the Seven Decisions
Andy Andrews is an awesome story teller. I had the pleasure of listening to him at a conference not long ago. He had me captivated for hours. I highly recommend his books.
In the meantime, it is my pleasure to pass on to you excerpts from his book The Traveler’s Gift where he lays out the Seven Decisions that Determine Personal Success. Here is your first installment about accepting responsibility of your past and letting go.
THE RESPONSIBLE DECISION
The buck stops here.
From this moment forward, I will accept responsibility for my past. I understand that the beginning of wisdom is to accept the responsibility for my own problems and that by accepting responsibility for my past, I free myself to move into a bigger, brighter future of my own choosing.
Never again will I blame my parents, my spouse, my boss, or employees for my present situation. Neither my education or lack of one, my genetics, or the circumstantial ebb and flow of everyday life will affect my future in a negative way. If I allow myself to blame these uncontrollable forces for my lack of success, I will be forever caught in a web of the past. I will look forward. I will not let my history control my destiny.
The buck stops here. I accept responsibility for my past. I am responsible for my success.
I am where I am today—mentally, physically, spiritually, emotionally, and financially—because of decisions I have made. My decisions have always been governed by my thinking. Therefore, I am where I am today—mentally, physically, spiritually, emotionally, and financially—because of how I think. Today I will begin the process of changing where I am—mentally, physically, spiritually,emotionally, and financially—by changing the way I think.
My thoughts will be constructive, never destructive. My mind will live in the solutions of the future. It will not dwell in the problems of the past. I will seek the association of those who are working and striving to bring about positive changes in the world. I will never seek comfort by associating with those who have decided to be comfortable.
When faced with the opportunity to make a decision, I will make one. I understand that God did not put in me the ability to always make right decisions. He did, however, put in me the ability to make a decision and then make it right. The rise and fall of my emotional tide will not deter me from my course. When I make a decision, I will stand behind it. My energy will go into making the decision.
I will waste none on second thoughts. My life will not be an apology. It will be a statement.
The buck stops here. I control my thoughts. I control my emotions.
In the future, when I am tempted to ask the question “Why me?”, I will immediately counter with the answer: “Why not me?” Challenges are a gift, an opportunity to learn. Problems are the common thread running through the lives of great men and women. In times of adversity, I will not have a problem to deal with, I will have a choice to make. My thoughts will be clear. I will make the right choice. Adversity is preparation for greatness. I will accept the preparation. Why me? Why not me? I will be prepared for something great!
I accept responsibility for my past. I control my thoughts. I control my emotions. I am responsible for my success.
The buck stops here.
I agree with that thought very much. I am on that mission everyday.
I am looking forward to the other Six Decisions…The way I see it…We all have 3 characters to concern our selves with….the social mask…how we think others should see us or what we present to others to tell our story…our version of who we are…the mistaken identity…how others actually see us [not necessarily in unison with the way we want others to see us]…and the reality mask…hidden inside the psyche…the real bare bones us. The stripped down version of what we are about…the real us, who if actually exposed and understood, would be the value-added dimension that illuminates the world around us.
If you insert a scalpel, cut down to the bone, and peel away all the flesh, you can sees the falsities in our lives. Getting down to bare bones can be quite revealing. Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, who is it we exactly are?
God gave us free will to make any decision we so desire or to take any path we so choose. He doesn’t flood us with panaceas and solutions…He presents us with opportunities…it is up to us to accept the challange and seek the highest and best of each and every opportunity. We may not always make the most correct decision, but we still have the free will to make decisions that could very well make corrections and get us back on the correct path.
It’s not that we’re living a lie, though in some case it sure looks like it, it’s living a beleif that we think will get us where we think we should be. Trial and error tells whether or not we’re on target. Some roads show mucho promise…only to wind up at a dead end; and then we need the courage to back it down and reset the course…that’s accepting responsibility for our past and righting the ship…that’s the re-thinking time…that’s the time to come out of the comfort zone and make sure you’re not just living a lie.
The comfort zone…the zone of good intnentions…you know…the road to Hell is paved with good intnentions. I call it life’s fragmentation. Our life is fragmented…to live in the future
can only be attained by living in the present…we can draw on the past for knowledge…you know…Today is Yesterday’s Tomorrow…living in the present and using the knowledge at our disposal evolves daily, day by day into the future. That way we can utilize and explore the opportunities laid out before us.
We have to run the race before us and most importantly we must cross the finish line. We don’t have to be the first to cross the finish line…we just have to finish the race…in finishing the reace we are the winner.
Thank you Joseph – I keep re-reading your comments – awesome!
To really look at one self in the mirror, to look beyond the face certainly reveals much about yourself. Sometimes you may find that you do not like what you see – that is when you have to make the decision to change what you see.
Unfortunately, the percentage of people who dare to look are, I believe fewer than those who do.
And yes finishing the race, reaching your goal makes you a winner.