Are you responsible for your results?
What comes to mind when I say that?
When you hear that you're totally responsible for the results you produce in your business and in your life---you might jump to a conclusion. You may think that I'm suggesting that you should take the blame for your results.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
By taking responsibility for your results and your outcomes--- you grant yourself great power.
If you acknowledge that you're truly responsible for the way your projects end ---good or bad--- you give yourself great power. You can use this newly discovered power to make your projects end up another, possibly more desirable way.
Before I go on, let's agree on a few things.
The first agreement: The results you produce are determined by your choices and your actions.
Second agreement: A lot of people look upon failure as a bad thing.
What if there was an optional way, a more productive way to view a failure?
I believe that failure isn't really as much about failing as we might believe.
I'd like you to think of failure as a success. You don't fail.
You are successful at reaching an outcome 100% of the time.
Here is a question that will help shift the traditional mindset. Is the result you produced the result you had intended to produce or was the result unplanned?
I want you to start looking at failure in a new light. I want you to start thinking of failure as a process that generates unplanned results.
Using that definition you can begin to view your results as a stepping stone to greater success.
This shift in thinking will provide you with the chance to change the choices and/or the actions that are producing your unplanned results without making yourself feel like you've been doing something wrong.
Here is a story I use to illustrate the point.
The genius inventor, Thomas Edison had performed more than thousand, unsuccessful experiments while on his mission to create the electric light bulb.
Edison was asked, "How were you able to continue with your experiments after encountering so many failures?"
Edison replied, "I did not look at the unsuccessful attempts as failures, but rather as a thousand ways not to make a light bulb."
He took responsibility for each outcome, made adjustments and continued on to success.
For most people, the ability to take responsibility for unplanned outcomes and adjust accordingly calls for a new "skill set". You have to develop and exercise the "skill muscle" called responsibility.
Focus on developing your "skill muscles".
One way to develop these "skill muscles" is to pattern your results oriented behaviors after the model for Effective Communication.
Effective communicators know their outcome and state it in the positive. In other words they focus on what they want versus what they don't want.
Effective communicators have the awareness to know whether they are moving away from or towards that desired outcome.
Effective communicators have a flexibility of choice and action that allows them to make a course correction, especially if what they were doing was producing unplanned results.
As your "skill muscles" grow stronger your ability to achieve your desired outcomes more easily and more often will emerge. Your ability to communicate effectively with yourself and with others will grow proportionately.
Be ready and willing to ask yourself, "For what parts of the project am I willing to take responsibility?"
In addition, I suggest that you stop taking things as seriously as you have been.
That is not meant to imply that what you're up to is not serious. It's just that life is serious enough without making it more so.
Remember that life is an adventure over which we have little control.
We make choices, we take action and we play the game the best we can.
Being enlightened is the best mindset to have when you play the game.
So--- keep in mind that the greatest pathway to enlightenment is to--- Lighten up.
Remember to--- Play the game, take responsibility and lighten up.
"Angels fly because they take themselves lightly." -G.K.Chesterson
? 2005 Ian Krieger
Ike Krieger is the founder of BusinessSuccessBuilder.com. He is a nationally known business language expert, mentor, speaker, radio and TV talk show host, educator and author. He is a former communications instructor at Ohio State University.
He has served as business makeover specialist for the LA Times and writes for the San Fernando Valley Business Journal. He is the current Chairman of the Board of the North San Fernando Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce. Ike's business success builder programs have helped thousands of entrepreneurs, executives, salespeople, consultants and professionals get an even bettershot at networking, selling and business success.
Ike can be reached at 800-700-4334 or by e-mail at ike@businesssuccessbuilder.com.
BusinessSuccessBuilder.com. Build it Big, Build it Bigger!
ike@businesssuccessbuilder.com
818-997-7575 - 800-700-4334
custom home cleaning Lincolnshire ..Continuing from the second article:6. About the aground mathematical model,... Read More
How do you sponsor an event and get personal introductions... Read More
All legitimate home business entrepreneurs insist and announce loud and... Read More
"I don't know the key to success, but the key... Read More
Let's face it, we all tend to get stuck in... Read More
For really tough boat hull cleaning you will need to... Read More
The key to organizational focus and helping those who need... Read More
Do you promote yourself as offering prompt, reliable and quality... Read More
We're birds of a feather, public relations and small business.... Read More
A Small Business Opportunities Magazine is one of the new... Read More
One thing I have noticed in my travels to different... Read More
Opportunities for home show businesses have never been more abundant.... Read More
Here are some sound debt collection techniques that can be... Read More
Company mottos can easily be printed on a business card.Sometimes... Read More
Being a small or home-based business owner can be loads... Read More
A lot of business owners I've spoken with lately have... Read More
Business checks are available in many styles and varieties. They... Read More
Starting your own e-commerce business can be quite the adventure.... Read More
Many businesses offer small business franchise opportunities. There are many... Read More
You've heard marketing and advertising gurus quip, "Sell the sizzle,... Read More
Every company has business pain, but the pain does not... Read More
You'd like to go into business for yourself, and believe... Read More
Your business is only as good as the number of... Read More
How often have you thumbed through a business opportunity magazine,... Read More
With the massive explosion of start-ups and home businesses developing,... Read More
move in cleaning service Glencoe ..We visited Lexus USA, home of the Lexus North America... Read More
After over thirty years advising small business it still comes... Read More
If you plan to upgrade your workshop into an Authorized... Read More
1. TargetYou are not all things to all people. Decide... Read More
Many auto detailers fall short in their sales presentations. I... Read More
What is Business Valuation? The term business valuation is the... Read More
You've heard marketing and advertising gurus quip, "Sell the sizzle,... Read More
Everyday, customers and business owners are bombarded with billboards, logos,... Read More
If you really want to earn more money with your... Read More
Under the Securities Act of 1933, any offer to sell... Read More
It's obvious when a small business has accepted the fact... Read More
There will come a time in your business where you... Read More
Who is responsible for maintaining the business relationship?Nurturing a business... Read More
It's the dream of every person who starts a business... Read More
Do you own a franchised business? Over 400,000 franchised businesses... Read More
A successful joint venture marketing effort is the goal of... Read More
Concrete cleaning can be a lucrative business to start. Here... Read More
Ask anyone trapped in a cubical about their entrepreneurial dream... Read More
You can't imagine how many people ask me how I... Read More
Here are some important points to take note of if... Read More
You bet it's worth it. Publicity via news releases, along... Read More
Many people ask how many graphs or charts they should... Read More
Q. I am a former pastor who left the ministry... Read More
Lance Armstrong this week won an unprecedented 7th Tour de... Read More
SBIR Corner: FFP vs. CPFF contracts:In the SBIR/STTR world, the... Read More
Small Business |