If you’re like me, excuses are part of your everyday life; you make them, you miss them, you ignore them, and then you make more. Have you ever stopped to wonder why? And how much time have you spent coming up with justifications for your inaction and mistakes? It’s time for you to start taking responsibility for your own life and the choices you make.
I’ve certainly done my fair share of blaming others and making excuses for why I didn’t have the life I wanted. (And there’s nothing wrong with taking a little time to wallow in self-pity every now and again)
But I’ve learned that in order to experience the life that I DEEPLY desire, I first had to accept the fact that I had to take responsibility for my actions and my life. My life transformed from the inside out once I learned to take back my own power by taking on the responsibility and control of my life I had been blaming others for taking from me.
What will happen when you stop making excuses?
I want to be crystal clear about something: I am NOT saying that you are responsible for everything that happens to you. You are not responsible for the abuse that other people have inflicted upon you. You are not responsible for other people’s shitty choices.
You are responsible for your own choices.
You get to choose how you are going to move forward and what you are going to do in this moment – right here, right now.
19 Quotes That will Convince You to Stop Making Excuses and Start Taking Responsibility for Yourself, Your Actions, and Your Life
You may not get a choice about what set of unfortunate circumstances you get thrust into – but you sure as hell are responsible for what you decide to do once you are there.
“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo. “So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
– JRR Tolkien
1. How can you do better if you can’t even admit you messed up?
“Part of getting a second chance is taking responsibility for what you did wrong in the first place.”
– Jack Bauer
2. Taking responsibility means taking control
“Accepting personal responsibility for your life frees you from outside influences – increases your self-esteem – boosts confidence in your ability to make decisions – and ultimately leads to achieving success in life.”
– Roy T. Bennett
3. Don’t get trapped in your own tragic narrative
“If you want to change something about yourself, you need to be willing to take full responsibility for yourself. If you are going to hide behind stories and excuses, it won’t work!”
– Akiroq Brost
4. If not you, then who?
“Accept responsibility for your life. Know that it is you who will get you where you want to go, no one else.”
– Les Brown
5. Happiness starts on the inside
“Take responsibility for your own happiness. Do not expect people or things to bring you happiness, or you could be disappointed.”
– Rodolfo Costa
6. Taking on a leadership role in your life means accepting the responsibilities AND the risks
“Most people do not really want freedom, because freedom involves responsibility, and most people are frightened of responsibility.”
– Sigmund Freud
7. Making excuses = giving away your power
“It is only when you take responsibility for your life that you discover how powerful you truly are.”
– Allanah Hunt
8. Step out from the shelter of arbitrary rules and walls and LIVE
“What is an anarchist? One who, choosing, accepts the responsibility of choice.”
– Ursula K. Le Guin
9. 2 essential ingredients of a well-lived life
“The secret ingredients to true happiness? Decisive optimism and personal responsibility.”
– Amy Leigh Mercree
10. Taking responsibility is the path to freedom
“The power behind taking responsibility for your actions lies in putting an end to negative thought patterns. You no longer dwell on what went wrong or focus on whom you are going to blame. You don’t waste time building roadblocks to your success. Instead, you are set free and can now focus on succeeding.”
– Lorii Myers
11. You ALWAYS have choices
“Choices may be unbelievably hard but they’re never impossible. To say you have no choice is to release yourself from responsibility and that’s not how a person with integrity acts.”
– Patrick Ness
12. Power = responsibility
“When you start to accept responsibility for the results you get in life, you also take back the power to change your future outcome.”
– Kevin Ngo
13. Your future is not bound by your past
“What we call our destiny is truly our character and that character can be altered. The knowledge that we are responsible for our actions and attitudes does not need to be discouraging, because it also means that we are free to change this destiny. One is not in bondage to the past, which has shaped our feelings, to race, inheritance, background. All this can be altered if we have the courage to examine how it formed us. We can alter the chemistry provided we have the courage to dissect the elements.”
– Anais Nin
14. Freedom = responsibility
“When you choose freedom, you also choose responsibility.”
– Richie Norton
15. You are only your own master
“You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstance, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself. That is something you have charge of.”
– Jim Rohn
16. Your life is a neverending creative process and you are the artist
“In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.”
– Eleanor Roosevelt
17. You can’t control your feelings, but you can control how you deal with them
“You are always responsible for how you act, no matter how you feel.”
– Robert Tew
18. Instead of lamenting your misfortunes, funnel your energy into creating change
“When you complain, you make yourself a victim. Leave the situation, change the situation, or accept it. All else is madness.”
– Eckhart Tolle
19. Are you going to move forward or stay stuck?
“You are responsible for your life. You can’t keep blaming somebody else for your dysfunction. Life is really about moving on.”
– Oprah Winfrey
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