You Are Self-Made: Taking Responsibility for Your Life
Foreign, if you do not like where you currently are in life, there isn't anyone to blame but self. Earl Nightingale said, "We are all self-made, but only the successful will admit it." You're responsible for your life and the outcomes of it. I know it's hard to believe, but whether you admit it or not, you are self-made. People who are not where they want to be in life find it difficult to admit that they are self-made. It's hard to look at yourself in the mirror and summon up the courage to take responsibility for your actions and decision making, especially if you're not where you want to be.
You and you alone are solely responsible for your life, and once you admit that you are responsible, you can take the first step towards taking control of your life. You must take responsibility for your future because it is the first step towards changing your life and the results you produce. You cannot continue to blame others for your setbacks or believe that your destiny lies in the hands of other people. A person with a mindset that believes others are responsible for their destiny has forfeited their power. It's time to take back your power and begin to make the necessary adjustments to live the life you want.
I need for you to understand that you do not have to accept the hand that was dealt to you. I know that there may have been circumstances that altered your life, you were not responsible for, and put you in a position that hindered your progress. But I need you to understand, life was not given to us to be easy. Life was given to us to be managed. I know it's hard, but no one ever said it would be easy. If you don't get the courage to stand up and do something about your current situation, life will continue to be hard for you.
Are you going to continue to complain, or are you going to be bold, courageous, and find a solution? What are you going to do about the difficulties of life? Are you going to continue to complain, or are you going to be bold, courageous, and find a solution? Anyone who is striving for greatness will always hit the wall of opposition. How you respond to the crash will determine your character, strength, and willpower.
The universe has a way of testing you to see if what you say you want is really what you want. If no one would give you an opportunity, create your own opportunity. If no one gives you a seat at their table, build your own table. Life does not always go as planned, and where you are currently may not be what you had in mind for yourself. But you have the power to change that. Choose the life you want by the actions you take every day.
Every choice or decision you make can and will impact your life. You can make decisions that will set you up for success, or you can make decisions that will keep you in the very place you dread. At the end of the day, you're responsible for your life and the outcomes of it. You are self-made, regardless if you believe it or not.
The time for lying to yourself stops now. Ask yourself, what do I want for my life? Am I doing the best I can every single day? What would the future me say to the current me? Would my future self be pleased, or would my future self be embarrassed? What improvements can I make daily to position myself to win? What can I do right now that would give me a chance of becoming the person I want to be? Be yourself and take the necessary steps to change your life.
You are self-made, and no one can change that. You're responsible for the life you live, and if you're not pleased with your now, then make a commitment today to do everything in your power to create the life that you can be proud of. Michael Jordan stated, "Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, do not turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it."
In order to overcome any obstacle in your life, you must honestly come to terms with how you view the obstacle. Do you view the obstacle as a puzzle to solve, impossible to overcome, or do you see it as a temporary hold-up? Something that is impossible means that something is not able to occur, exist, or be done. A temporary hold-up simply means something lasts for a limited amount of time. It isn't permanent.
Although it may seem like the obstacle won't budge, don't become discouraged or throw in the towel. You have to approach the obstacle differently. Be sure not to confuse impossible with temporary because you can turn a temporary hold-up into a permanent obstacle. See, you have to identify what makes something an obstacle in the first place. Is it considered an obstacle because it prevents you from moving forward, or does it push you to work harder than you really want to? Only you know the answer to that question, and to move forward, you really have to deal with those two questions and act accordingly.
It may not be a physical obstacle or barrier that you have to overcome. It may be a mental obstacle that you have created in your mind that stops you from moving forward. Obstacles reveal in us what needs fine-tuning. Obstacles show us the things that are inhibiting self-growth and self-development. We can use the obstacles we face to show us how to react, respond, or how to move in life.
When faced with any obstacle, a person has to change their mindset and see the obstacle as something that they can overcome. Stop counting yourself out when you are faced with a little adversity. Adversity and opposition will always be there, but it's there to help you determine if what you want is something you are ready to go after and fight for.
I want you to know that God has placed on the inside of you an incalculable amount of strength that will help you overcome any obstacle that you may face. Obstacles can be a beautiful thing depending on your perspective. Obstacles help us dig deep to test to see what we are made of. Obstacles force us to think on our feet and become innovative.
You may not be able to jump over the obstacle in front of you, but you can go around it or push it down. It's not about what you look like overcoming the obstacle, but about how you finish. Choose today to overcome your obstacle and stop making temporary hold-ups permanent situations. Inside of every self-made man is a poor kid who followed his dreams.
Albert Einstein said, "Only one who devotes himself to a cause with his whole strength and soul can be a true master, and for this reason, a self-made man demands all of you." So get out there and make the choices you must make and take the actions that will make you proud of who you are because, at the end of the day, you are self-made.
