Stop thinking "If Only"

"If only I could get a better break."
"If only I had some money."
"If only I would've married the right person."
"If only I worked for the right company."
"If only I had the right parents."

Do you pull back from taking full personal responsibility
for yourself? Many of us do. We think that a parent, a
teacher, a friend, a boss, a spouse, the company we worked
for, or some governmental program should shoulder our burden
for turning our lives into what we want them to be.

This approach can't get the job done. Other people and
organizations have too many pressing challenges and
priorities of their own.

What does this mean? That you'll always be disappointed when
you depend on others for the things you must do for
yourself.

It's so easy to justify the temptations of freeloading, to
slide into being a follower, to fail to see the hidden price
tag in the handout. Unless you take complete control of your
life and assume full personal responsibility for yourself,
who will? No one will.

Every dollar you earn is worth ten given to you. Earned
money creates the self-image of self-reliance; given money
creates the self-image of other-dependence. This is why some
families stay on welfare for generations.

Hangers-on and free-loaders are the most frustrated people
on earth because they have created their own frustrations.
You can't be successful and happy until you earn the respect
of the toughest, hardest to fool, and most important judge
in the world: yourself.


Column By Tom Hopkins