A Basic Principal of Personal Development:
Take Ownership of Your Life

By Dr. Tony Fiore

It seems to me that the process of growing up involves the gradual realization of how we have wasted so much time trying to control uncontrollable or irrelevant things.

Once we start becoming more aware of the illusion of control, we begin to see the few things we can in fact control.

Then we go about learning how to best influence the most important things on this short list in more positive, productive ways.

At the top of this control list is the need for more self-management.

Especially critical, is the area of controlling our own interpretations of things that happen to us and our reactions to those interpretations.

The smart reversal of focusing back inwards toward ourselves to better manage these interpretations and reactions is the first real step in personal growth.

Unfortunately this important shift usually isn't a smooth one or one you can hurry along, but it does start with the question.

How do I sabotage my own success?

Probably most of this type of fear is based on some major assumptions of what might happen when you become successful.

Your mind can go fairly wild with anticipation, before you even become successful at what you are trying to do.

You can't begin to close the gap between where you are and where you want to be until you see who created that gap- yourself.

Once you take ownership for all your own best self-sabotaging behaviors you are ready to
Proceed on your journey of self-growth.

It usually takes a very long time to understand why you need to give yourself permission to do something just for yourself and for its own intrinsic worth, without any regard for other people or reasons.

The sense of satisfaction and accomplishment never seems to come to you when you are really doing something for someone else or for some ulterior motive.

When you stop doing things for the wrong reasons and cease competing against others and start doing them for yourself, competing against yourself, you finally start getting a genuine sense of satisfaction.