"Your mind will be like its habitual thoughts; for the soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts. Soak it then in such trains of thoughts as, for example: Where life is possible at all, a right life is possible."

~ Marcus Aurelius, 2nd century Roman emperor-(stoic) philosopher

It all begins with accountability. Unless you’re willing to take absolute responsibility for your life, there is no hope.

Seriously.

If you’re going to blame a bad market or a bad relationship or bad whatever for your problems, then you won’t come close to reaching your potential.

Sorry to break the news.

Having said that, if you’re willing to quit being a victim and start taking control of how you think about and interact with the world, then you’re on your way to doing anything you set your mind to.

Open up The Dhammapada, the core text of Buddha’s teachings. Flip to the first lines. The very first words are “Our life is shaped by our mind. We become what we think.”

That sums it up pretty well, eh?

And, scientists have done all kinds of research on this. They talk about “locus of control”—aka, where you place control. Do you put control outside of yourself and have what they term an “external locus of control”? Or, do you take responsibility and have an “internal locus of control.”

Not surprisingly, you can test rats and humans and you’ll find that, to the extent you place control outside of yourself, you will be significantly less happy, less successful, less all the things you want to be, than if you internalize control.

Philosophers have commented on the subject exhaustively as well—from ancient Stoic philosophers like Aurelius and Epictetus to Buddha all the way up to more recent guys like James Allen and contemporary gurus like Stephen Covey.

Of course, we cannot always control what happens in our lives, but we can always control how we perceive what happens. And, oh, what a difference that makes.

Lesson: Quit being a victim. Be a Creator.

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