You are responsible for the happiness and success within your life.

Sounds simple enough, but this is a basic premise of life that people tend to forget. Humans seem to prefer to attribute blame or praise on other people or things for all sorts of events in their lives: “he made me so angry”, “you make me happy” and so on. This is not to say that people don’t contribute, obviously they do. But the control is not theirs.

You have within yourself the power to make your life the way you want it. Think of someone you know who always seems happy with their life. If you ask them about it, it is unlikely that they will claim to have had a perfect life. Everyone has setbacks, meets obstacles, encounters frustrating people but the difference between them and most people is that they recognize that they control what they make of all of it.

Anyone who has diligently read through this blog will remember my choice theory. Greeted by grumpy customer service agent? Don’t let it ruin your day. You can choose to react however you want.

As for success, well, that is definitely not controlled by other people. You have chosen to be where you are, so if you are not successful then maybe you need to evaluate what you are doing to prevent it, or what you are not doing to encourage success. We choose our path though we may not choose our circumstances. We all know at least one person who managed despite their “circumstances” to move themselves up towards their dreams of success.

So the next time you think about how much happier you could be if… or how you would be successful when… take a moment and remind yourself that you have a choice.