“In life you always get one of two things, either you get the results you want, or you get reasons or excuses for not getting the results you want.”
- Carol Talbot
Are you one of the thousands of people across the globe that buy books on goal setting, goal getting and personal achievement? Congratulations if it’s moving you in the right direction. However, the reality is most people never reach their true potential or put into practice the tools and techniques that they have learned because they simply go back to the way they’ve always done things. What is more, they give themselves plenty of reasons and excuses for not having their life quite the way they want it.
RESULTS VERSUS EXCUSES
It appears in life that you always get one of two things, either you get the results you want, or you get reasons or excuses for not getting the results you want. Excuses and reasons could be ‘I didn’t achieve my goal of being fit and healthy because being overweight runs in our family, it’s genetic.’ ‘I didn’t get the job I wanted because I don’t have a degree.’ ‘My poor health holds me back.’ ‘I don’t have enough money to do anything to change my situation.’ ‘I have responsibilities.’ ‘I’m too busy to change.’ Do any of these sound familiar?
So in life you either get what you want, or you get reasons and excuses for not getting what you want. Just for a moment imagine a time in the future when you didn’t have any reasons and all your excuses had disappeared.
It’s time to consider yourself to be a bus driver, driving your life in a different directions. Sometimes you pick up well-behaved passengers and sometimes they are unruly. The passengers are your thoughts and feelings. At times they can be rude shouting out things like ‘you’re a reckless driver,’ ‘you’re lost and have no idea where you’re heading,’ or ‘hurry up!’ They can be noisy too. If you are ready to grab the steering wheel and take your foot off the brake, then it is possible to change your story, reclaim back your personal power and create a different ripple effect into your world.
The answer lies in understanding the laws of the universe. I’m going to share one of the most important and simple laws of the universe which will ensure you’re back in the driving seat and steering your bus in the right direction!
THE LAW OF CAUSE AND EFFECT
Do your actions have a consequence? ‘Cause and Effect’ appears to be a law of the universe and says that whenever something happens it was caused by something else happening before it. So do you choose to think of yourself as being on the Cause side of the equation or on the Effect side?
As a Cause person are you taking responsibility for your actions or are you an Effect person… a victim of circumstance?
There are some people who habitually think of themselves on the Effect side of life, bemoaning their bad luck and say things like ‘I have a problem,’ ‘it’s not my fault’ or ‘she messed things up.’
Be honest, what are you moaning about in your life right now?
Ultimately, you are the creator of your universe. You are the cause for all the effects in your life. What I can tell you is that when I do take full responsibility for what’s going on in my life, I’m empowered; I have more control and more choice to do something about it! After all, if it’s not your fault, how can you do anything about it?
When you are on the ‘Cause’ side of the equation it empowers you to act and make changes in your life. When you’re on the effect side of the equation, you have no power because you are blaming other people…
Be a cause person and start to take responsibility for your actions. If you’re not in a job you enjoy ask yourself how have you created that situation? If you’re not happy in your relationship ask yourself what can YOU do to change that?
Once you realize you’re creating your life as you go along, it gives you the power to change. You can choose to pay attention to different things, interpret experiences differently, feel differently and act differently.
And remember, this one Law of the Universe offers you the opportunity to question your own behavior and there lies the opportunity for evolution.