It's On You!

This past weekend I attended a conference that had over 30 speakers with a wide variety of backgrounds, expertise, speaking styles, and topics.  The conference was something I had been looking forward to for some time and it was amazing, uplifting, enlightening, and everything I had hoped for.  And although there were many different subjects presented throughout the event, one central idea resonated in my mind as I heard it repeated (or at least the general idea repeated) over and over again by different presenters.  This central “theme” of this great conference for me was “It’s on you!” 

What does this mean, "It’s on you?"  As the speakers suggested over and over again it means our success, happiness, satisfaction, and results in life is on us—and no one else.  We have the power within us to control our own lives.  We are the masters of our ship.  We can’t blame our mistakes, unhappiness, or short-comings on anyone else, we are responsible.

If we are unhappy with how things are, where we are at in life, or with what we are doing, it is on us.  No one else has as much power or potential to change and impact our lives than us.  Indeed, our supreme creator has given each of us the gift of choice and with that comes responsibility and accountability.  If we are not satisfied with our current conditions than it is on us to change it.  We shouldn’t wait for someone or something else to come and fix things for us. 

This idea, that our happiness and success in life in on us is a powerful one. It empowers us, regardless of our circumstances, disadvantages, or situation, to make a difference and change the direction of our life.  It helps us avoid the wasted time and energy that is invested everyday by millions of others who shift blame and conjure up excuses.  It gives us confidence that we can rise above our current situation because we are not dependent on things outside of our control.  It helps us believe that we determine our own destiny. 

Everything changes when we take this level of ownership over our lives and face the fact that our results are truly on us.  Rather than play the victim we become the agent of our outcomes.  Life is too short to waste it away blaming other things or other people for our failures or lack of happiness.  The best leaders and the happiest people always remember and live with the understanding that our success is on us!