The Easiest Thing in the World

I figured it out!  This morning while getting ready for the day I figured it out and I’m happy to share that the easiest thing in this world is to point the finger at others.  Blaming others for our lack of success, satisfaction, and results in life is so easy and I realized this morning that I do it all of the time.  And if each of us is honest with ourselves, probably most of us do it; it seems to be a natural inclination.  Though it is not easy, avoiding the easiest thing in the world by taking ownership for our actions, behaviors, and results is extremely liberating and satisfying.

What made me come to this conclusion this morning is recently I’ve been working with a team that has been quite dysfunctional.  We all have a clear and common goal we are working toward but we can’t seem to make any progress at all!!  I found myself this morning frustrated and thinking about if so and so did this, and another person did that we could maybe make progress toward achieving our goal.  The more I thought about others on my team and what “THEY” needed to do the more helpless and hopeless I felt.  Then while literally looking in the mirror this morning something hit me.  What I wanted my team members to do I hadn’t even been willing to do myself to this point.  I realized I’ve been waiting for others to do “THEIR” part first and then I thought, if they proved to me they cared about the project, then I would do mine.  I realized at that moment how subtle and easy it is to blame others for our lack of success in all aspects of our lives. 

The reality of life is we have full control over one person in this world and that person is ourselves.  No matter how bad we wish someone else would change, we can’t force them to do it.  Instead, when we want things to change, we must change.  And when we want different results, we must take different actions.  It is convenient and easy to blame others and wait for them to change but the truly successful, the true leaders in this world, take ownership of their results and make things happen. 

In the end, a lot of things in life may not turn out exactly how we had planned or hoped but if we do our part by putting forth our best effort, doing all we can, we will feel happy about the contributions we are making and the value we are adding.  As I was looking in the mirror this morning I realized I couldn’t feel good about my part, I wasn’t doing all I could but rather was blaming others.  It was easy and felt good for a moment, but the feeling was hallow and fleeting.  Now I know I need to do my part, and hope my efforts and actions will inspire the others to do the same for really that is about all I can control.          

The easiest things in life rarely result in the best things.  If we want the best life has to offer, we need to avoid the easiest thing.  By doing this, our results, success, and happiness in life will grow exponentially.