Whose Fault Is It Anyway
Whose Fault Is It Anyway?
Many of you might be aware of the television show from the late 90s on ABC called Whose Line Is It Anyway? Drew Carey, the original host, always opened the program with the phrase… “Where everything is made up, and the points don’t matter.” At the end of any monologue, dialogue, or sketch, Drew Carey awarded meaningless points as a meaningless “reward” to a job well done.
I always found this amusing, but as I’ve gotten older, I think it is no different than the way we look at failure. When something goes wrong, we look for somebody and assign meaningless blame to them. Sometimes we point to our parents, our spouse, our friends, our employer, and even our government. At the time, it feels good to blame somebody else, because it lets us of the hook. In essence, we get to deflect the consequence of responsibility. As a result, we no longer have complete ownership of the solutions necessary to achieve a desirable outcome – that was traded away!
It is time to change your perspective. Abraham Lincoln suffered at least 12 major failures before reaching the pinnacle of political success, which ended the civil war and freed black men, women, and children from slavery! Thomas Edison experienced many failures in his attempts to improve politics,industry, and family life through the vote recorder, ore extractor, and phonograph! The Wright Brother’s tested200 different wing designs before achieving success with the Kitty Hawk Glider. JK Rowling experienced the failures associated with a poverty and depression before becoming a billionaire by writing fiction. All of these individuals and many more took responsibility for their failures. They refused to throw a pity party and wait for somebody else to improve their situation. Indeed, they practiced Extreme Ownership, before U.S. Navy Seal Jocko Willink wrote the book.
Questions to Ponder
Champion MMA Fighter Tim Kennedy stated that you can have anything you want so long as you are willing to do hard. Jacko Willink followed up by claiming that doing hard is equivalent to discipline, and discipline ultimately earns freedom.
In what ways are you courting passivity and blame shifting? Why?
Who do you need to seek forgiveness from as a result?
How would your life change if you took ownership over your perceived failings?
What disciplines do you need to develop?
What will your personal freedom look like as a result of your developed disciplines?
To your new life of ownership and freedom!
P.S. I’ll let Thomas Edison have the last word about failure. When asked by a reporter, “How did it feel to fail 1000 times?” Edison responded, “I didn’t fail 1000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1000 steps!”
P.P.S. Extreme Ownership of your finances works the same way. If you need some assistance to take control of your money, reach out for a conversation. Let’s build your new success together.