Zen College Life

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That some achieve great success, is proof to all that others can achieve it as well. -Abraham Lincoln

My car broke down. I don’t feel well. The teacher hates me.  It’s my mom’s fault.  It’s not fun.  The list goes on and on, but the issue is the same; Most of us are conditioned to make excuses so that we do not have to take responsibility for our actions. We blame anyone and anything that we can, in order to take the blame and pressure off of ourselves.  It is not until we stop blaming other people  and take full responsibility over our situation that we can start to assume our full potential and achieve major success.

The Problem

I had a chance recently to get some real feedback on some character traits of mine that I had never seriously confronted.  I always made an excuse of some sort in order to keep from dealing with them, or just ignored them all together.  But this time I decided to stop making excuses, to stop brushing the problem under the rug.  “I won’t be able to be a better person until I take responsibility for my actions and change them when they require change,” I told myself.

For purposes of explanation let’s say the problem was that I ‘made fun of people too much.’  I knew that my problem was going to reoccur, maybe even daily, it’s just in my nature.  But I was made aware that many people around me noticed this behavior, and that it wasn’t a characteristic that best suited the person that I wanted to be (the best me).  If I didn’t do something to correct my problem it would ultimately affect me dearly.  So today I decided to make a serious change.

The Solution

I needed to be reminded of how to correct my problem throughout the day, so that if I was put in a situation to repeat the problem I could be quickly reminded not to.  Now for each characteristic that you are trying to change there will be different solutions; smokers use gum, patches, holding things, etc; alcoholics stay away from bars, clubs, places with alcohol.  My situation was much simpler, and while it required effort, it didn’t require me to change my daily life any more than to remind myself not to ‘be mean, whether or not I felt it was appropriate.’

So this is my plan.  I draw in permanent marker on the outside of one hand a reminder of the solution to my problem, and on the outside of the other hand I write the purpose of solving this problem.  (I abbreviate each to two words, and use a symbolic encryption system that I made in 8^th grade so that nobody else can understand what the word mean. Why do I do this? Not only to keep it a secret, but also cause it’s awesome!)

That’s all it takes.  For years I ignored this problem, and today I decided to confront it and make a change.  I want total control over my life, and my success, and the only way I can see achieving this is to take full control and create my own success.  I’ll start with the controlling the basic things, creating lasting good habits and removing bad ones, then I’ll move towards the details to ensure personal greatness.

How you can too!

You can do this too.  All it requires is that you let go of the excuses.  Once you realize you are the reason you are not succeeding, not your mom, job, situation, or any other excuse, you will not only take control of your life, but you will take charge.  You will become your own personal manager.  A slack manager has employees who break rules and ignore authority, but a great manager will create great employees, great leaders, and great success. So go forth and create great leaders, starting with you.

You do want great success, don’t you?

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