Understanding One's Results
Why You Need to Own Your Results
By: Cristin Lowe
Let’s start with two basic premises: 1) You can’t change what you don’t own; and 2) Chances are you own every result. So when you make excuses and blame outside forces that are beyond your control, you get stuck with the same bad results because of the problems you refuse to own. Five reasons why it’s a good idea to own up to your own results:
1) Avoid Tunnel Vision – If you don’t own your results (or rather the hand you played in them), you can only see the symptoms and never the real underlying problem. You will never be able to see the real problem if you can’t acknowledge that you contributed in some way to it.
2) Get out of the Mud – Accept that you, like all people, make mistakes. Just own up to it—believe me, it will feel good, and you can move forward to the next step. The next step is start connecting the dots so that you can learn from your mistake. What was the chain of events that led to the catastrophic failure? Like every person who lived during the 80’s can quote, “knowing is half the battle.”
3) Set Yourself Up for Success – Unless you acknowledge that you are at least partially responsible for the situation, you will never be able to fix the problem. Why? Although you can change everything around the problem, the problem will continue to exist because you are the weak link. You will never be able to resolve the issue, and you will remain with the same bad results.
4) Be Able to Get Help – If you blame all your problems on someone or something outside of you, the problem then becomes that you’re powerless to improve the situation. If you ask your friends or family for help, there is nothing to say other than to sympathize with you and wish you well in the future. Owning your results gives you the tools to seek relevant advice.
5) Growth – No ownership means no change or development for you as an individual. No change or development means no growth. And that means you are stuck repeating the same bad habits again and again and again in a vicious cycle.