The political landscape feels bleak right now. For many people, hope for the future is in short supply. We complain endlessly about politicians—yet, if we’re honest, we don’t hold them to account nearly enough.
Instead, we fall into the familiar pattern: left vs. right, defending our team and attacking the other. But if we step back, we see something uncomfortable. Regardless of the party, all sides have performed poorly in key areas that matter to ordinary people.
It’s time to insist on accountability—not just from the politicians we dislike, but from the ones we support as well. They are not “on our side”; they are on their side. We get the quality of leadership we tolerate, and ultimately, we deserve what we settle for.
Hope Isn’t Passive
We need a renewed sense of hope—not blind optimism, but the belief that things can get better if we act with intention. We owe that to the generations coming after us. Every decision we make today has consequences that ripple into the future.
One area where our individual choices matter more than we realise is where we spend our money.
Your Money Is Your Voice
When we choose to buy from multinational giants like Amazon or Starbucks—companies that work hard to minimise taxes in the countries where they operate—we inadvertently hurt our own communities. These choices starve our public services of funding.
Local businesses, on the other hand, pay taxes into the local economy. They contribute to schools, healthcare, infrastructure, and social services. They keep money circulating where we live.
We can hope the government will one day force multinational corporations to pay their fair share—but we’ve been hoping for decades. And governments consistently avoid tough action, worried about international relationships or corporate backlash.
That means the power shifts back to us.
Accountability Through Action
Yes, we should pressure governments. Yes, we should demand transparency and integrity from elected officials. But our personal actions carry weight too—often more than we think.
Every purchase is a signal. Every shopping habit is a vote.
When we choose companies that contribute to our society, we strengthen the system we all rely on. When we reward those who avoid responsibility, we weaken it.
We Have More Power Than We Realise
Real change isn’t delivered from above. It starts from below—from citizens, consumers, communities. We have more influence than we’ve been led to believe.
But power unused is power lost.
So let’s start using it.
Hold politicians to account—all of them.
Refuse to make excuses for “your team.”
Vote with your wallet by supporting businesses that pay taxes where you live.
Demand more, expect more, and settle for less from no one.
Because in the end, we all deserve what we settle for.
What Went Down at the BBC This Week — And Why It’s a Warning Sign for Journalism
This week, the BBC has found itself in full-blown crisis mode — and rightly so. The broadcaster admitted to “an error of judgment” after it was revealed that a Panorama documentary edited Donald Trump’s Jan. 6, 2021 speech in a way that created a misleading impression.
What Actually Happened
The BBC spliced together two separate parts of Trump’s address — nearly an hour apart — to make it sound like he was inciting violence.
The Guardian
In doing so, it omitted key lines where Trump did urge his supporters to protest “peacefully and patriotically.”
That doctored version was broadcast just before the 2024 U.S. election — raising serious questions about bias or editorial irresponsibility.
The Guardian
The fallout has been huge: Tim Davie, the BBC Director-General, and Deborah Turness, BBC News CEO, have both resigned.
BBC Chair Samir Shah personally apologised, calling the edit a “wrong impression” and “error of judgment.”
Trump’s team threatened a lawsuit of $1 billion, and he later said the figure could go up to $5 billion.
On top of all that, there are fresh allegations that Newsnight — another BBC programme — also edited the same speech in a misleading way.
The Guardian
Why This Isn’t Just a “Slip-Up” — It’s a Crisis of Credibility
This incident isn’t just embarrassing. It undercuts the very trust that public-service journalism should be built on.
Where the BBC Failed Its Own Standards
When you report on something as explosive as the Jan. 6 riot, context matters. By cutting and rearranging Trump’s words, the BBC shifted the narrative in a way that changed meaning and potentially misled millions. That’s not balance — that’s distortion.
Bigger Picture: Is Bias Creeping In?
The controversy didn’t start here. A leaked internal memo from a former BBC standards advisor accused the organisation of broader systemic bias — not just in its Trump coverage, but in how it handles issues like Gaza and trans rights.
Critics argue this week’s scandal is just the symptom, not the disease.
A Message to Journalists: Bias Isn’t a Free Pass
Think your political bias makes your reporting “strong” or “insightful”? Think again.
Being a good journalist isn’t about leaning left or right — it’s about meeting the basics:
✅ Accuracy – report the facts, all of them
✅ Ethics – don’t manipulate, mislead, or omit
✅ Clarity – make your reporting understandable
✅ Context – give the full picture
✅ Accountability – own your mistakes
If your bias leads you to distort the story, ignore context, or mislead your audience, you’re not doing journalism — you’re doing propaganda.
Bias isn’t just a habit — it steals you from being a good journalist.
What Needs to Happen Next
Independent Audit: The BBC must commission an independent review of its editorial processes, especially around how politically sensitive content is handled.
Transparent Admission: Rather than brushing this off as “an error,” BBC leadership should fully acknowledge the deeper risks.
Training & Reform: Journalists and editors need refresher training on ethics, sourcing, and avoiding narrative-driven editing.
Accountability Mechanisms: There must be clear, enforceable systems for whistleblowers and internal critics who raise red flags.
Bottom line: This isn’t just about Donald Trump. It’s about trust in public broadcasting. If the BBC can’t handle that responsibility without misrepresentation, then everyone — from viewers to political actors — has a right to question its future.
What’s the story going to be from this point onward?
The future doesn’t have to reflect the past unless you want it to.
The first chapter of your life might have been full of strife and struggle; the next can be about how you overcome such adversity, following the hero’s journey.
You get to write your own story. It could be one with many twists and turns, ups and downs. A three vs. zero defeat in the first half of a football match, sets up the opportunity for an amazing comeback in the second half.
You get to write the script from now on, It’s your right as well as your responsibility. Okay there’s going to be unexpected occurrences that come from left field, but you choose how you deal with them.
Arm yourself with the right tools: good reasoning capabilities, critical thinking, emotional control, and the desire to listen to your conscience for guidance.
Aim for “love” and “truth” for yourself and others. Armed with these two, you cannot be defeated. No amount of hate or lies is ever enough to defeat you, an apparent defeat may appear to contradict, but conscience will always point out the right path.
Do you think you can twist reality, because that is what you’re trying to do with lies. You certainly can not. Your lie will not go unnoticed, your future ideal self is always judging your actions and your conscience is pricking you if you’re not on track to live up to you ideals.
Are you living up to your ideals? Your lies twist your perceptions of reality, they don’t twist actual reality. Overtime you lose trust in yourself, and only truth can straighten things out again.
Better results come out of better actions, which come out of better thoughts, so mindset makes all the difference. You become the consequence of your thinking.
Fix your goal on who you want to be in 5 years, then craft a path towards that destination.
Make the journey as meaningful as you can, because it is the journey that will consume your time and attention, and these two resources can’t be repeated or replaced, they are consumed and finite.
You are the hero of your own journey, a transformation from who you are into who you aspire to be, not just for you and yours today, but for you and yours into the future.
The secret is in doing it for the betterment of society. While society can be corrupt and tyrannical, it is also a safe space to grow in. Outside of its protective embrace is the dragon of chaos.
Each individual who values rights must also accept responsibilities to move their society closer to God and away from the Devil. You have the power in your Being, and you have work to do.
Don’t fall by the wayside, don’t be a contributor to evil, don’t shun your responsibly, don’t settle for being king of the lost.
You may not be religious, but the divine is part of what you are.
Carry the love in your heart into future generations. They will be tomorrows custodians of this great planet we call home. Don’t short-change your children, and your children’s children. You owe them the chance to live their own hero’s journey, to pass love forward, to make the world a better place to live and thrive.
You have your challenge, stand up and accept the meaning that comes from this great responsibility.
We seem to be in a more polarised world than ever before, and tribalism appears to have been getting more popular over the last few years in the Western world.
We humans are social animals who function in a social world where competition and cooperation is a necessary component of a well-functioning society.
We all have to agree the rules of the social game, and then cooperate in playing a functioning role within that game, otherwise the fabric of society falls away, and nobody in their right mind wants that to happen, because anarchy and chaos replaces order and civility.
Our ancestors lived in smaller, more isolated communities and would mainly connect to other people in their shared geographical space, looking out for their neighbours.
But as populations have exploded, and mobility has increased, those local communities have largely been swept away and we’re now part of a more fluid, globalised world thanks to technological advances. It’s much easier to connect with other people through shared interests, ideas, beliefs and values. We may be connected with people from the other side of the world, yet not know who our neighbours are.
Tribalism and increased sense of self
There is a growing number of people in the population who take their identity from their affiliations; they see themselves as Labour or Tory, Democrats or Republicans, or part of a wider movement with a shared purpose, often to remove inequality from a corrupt social system. Other people are no longer seen as unique personalities with individual traits, thoughts, and values, they are either seen as “one of us” or “against us”. Thinking in this way eases cognitive burden but is a gross oversimplification of reality.
It’s important to understand the mechanics that drive tribalism.
At an individual level part of us likes to bring people, possessions, ideas and conceptual positions into what is best described as our sense of self (SOS). That part of us, often referred to as the Ego likes to think the more we’re connected to, and the more we possess, the more we elevate our self-worth. If we share interests or circumstances with others, and we like them, we will probably connect with them.
On the other hand, if we don’t connect with someone and take a dislike to them, we tend to separate from them by psychologically distancing from them. We also do this to increase our sense of self. If we take a critical view of another person, we’re immediately implying we’re superior to them.
So we lower the others (the other side) to inflate our own sense-of-self, or we inflate our sense-of-self through attachment and affiliation, and this lifts us above others (the other side).
This results in the formation of in-groups and out-groups.
So at an Ego level we’re trying to increase our sense of self by both connecting to and separating from other people.
As social animals we’d generally rather get on with others than not, but that’s just not possible with so many different personalities in play.
We need social connections because it protects us from what would otherwise be a chaotic and anarchical world. By cooperating in a competitive environment, we function without fear of being harmed or killed (most of the time). This psychologically frees us up to strive for personal growth. We can strive to climb social hierarchies in a mutually beneficial way as long as everyone else agrees to cooperate. Even though there are other people with vastly differing views and opinions, they can still participate in the same game, as long as they agree to play by the same rules. We can all agree to disagree with some things, but still cooperate in the overarching social game.
Collectivism can also make us feel more courageous. Psychologically making us less culpable if things go wrong, because the group shares the risks and responsibilities. It feels safer when we’re working with others in pursuit of a shared goal, as someone else can step up in situations where we feel less confident.
Collectives often result in people pointing fingers of blame at others, usually “the other side”, or rely on others within the group to come up with solutions. There are invariably those within the group who will take on leadership roles, and the rest follow in support.
A responsible individual
Rather than having a collectivist mindset, we should function predominantly on an individual level.
You should take personal responsibility for your actions and outcomes. Stop relying on other people, including other in-group members, and stand up and take action for yourself. Sure it’s harder to do, it feels scary at first, but it’s the right thing to do, because it forces you to stand up to your own challenges, and this arms you with the tools and skills to be an individual with real personal power.
Stop blaming others for your situation or complaining how others have caused you this problem and that problem. Blaming and complaining only disempowers you, it gives you an excuse not to take action for yourself. Passing blame passes power. Only when you take full responsibility for your own situation, are you able to empower yourself to make things better. What’s more, you should first put your own house in order before concerning yourself with wider societal issues.
We must also stop focusing attention on our differences with other people and start looking for our shared humanity. We can enrich our lives through genuine empathy and compassion for people who come from different backgrounds, cultures, and life experiences.
We should try to learn from each other’s unique experiences, by being curious, rather than closed-minded. After all, we are naturally exploratory creatures, and curiosity is part of what makes us human.
Open communication through dialogue, we all have stories to tell about our experiences, sharing these will help bring us together. It’s not just about telling your story, listen to other people’s stories, so you can learn something new from them.
Get Results: winners and losers predator of chance and victim of circumstance
There are WINNERS and LOSERS in every situation. Mentally position yourself to WIN. Be a PREDATOR of chance rather than a VICTIM of circumstance.
Victims blame and complain. When they pass the buck they also unwittingly pass the power to help themselves, to find a way, to make things happen. Instead take responsibility, don’t look outside yourself for answers, all you need to conquer is within you – It’s fear, fear of loss, failure, defeat, disappointment.
When you look differently at things, things look different. Change yourself and things change. To have more you have to be more.
These are not just sound bites, they are truths.
Using COPING STRATEGIES helps elevate internal dissonance but coping strategies are often used as coping excuses. Excuses to be able to accept failure, to be okay with not following through on plans towards goals. If you’re not moving goal bound ask yourself why not. Somethings getting in your way and it’s most likely to be you. Figure yourself out by improving self awareness; ask yourself why you do what you do and don’t so what you don’t do. Figure out your strengths and weaknesses so that you can chart an effective plan of attack.
These are just a few of the key elements to enable you to get results. Sign up for our newsletter and check out the underlying framework we use to get results and find success.
If you’ve spent any time on social media , you’ll know that it’s full of complainers and blamers. People whinging about this and that, and boy have they had stuff to whinge about over the last few years.
There’s been Brexit here in the UK, Trump’s rise to power in the US to name just two biggies that spring to mind.
There’s also complaints about local stuff, like congestion, poorly planned urban development, anti-social behaviour, lack of courtesy on the roads, traveling communities disrespecting local areas.
Some complain they are getting the thin end of the wedge with student loans, job prospects, housing market conditions, I could go on and on.
While I have sympathy for those that find themselves on the receiving end of such situations, I too have been impacted by some of these things, complaining, and blaming doesn’t help in finding a solution, other than acting to alert those willing to take action, that a unsatisfactory situation does indeed exist. I guess that’s what complaining is designed to do, force others to take action on your behalf, whether that be local councils, politicians or the community itself.
I don’t suppose complaining is going away anytime soon, but for those that would like to take a more empowering position, read on…
Get on the right side of how things work, as Jim Rohn is famously quoted in saying. I would add that it’s important to realise that there are winners and losers in every situation. You can be a victim or a victor. Sure sometimes things blindside us, we just didn’t see them coming, but we do have a choice in how we deal with them.
Be a predator of chance rather than a victim of circumstance, and look for the opportunities that come about continually because of the fact things are constantly changing.
Get Results:predator of chance rather than a victim of circumstance
It’s natural to fear change, because it brings with it uncertainty and risk. We, as a species have evolved to favor the tried and tested approach to ensure our own survival, and this is hard to shake off.
However with a shift in perspective, we are able to see that there are also many opportunities that come from change. When you choose to focus on opportunities rather than fear, you see things you wouldn’t otherwise see.
Let me give you an example, there are people still moaning about Brexit over a year after the decision has been made, they are still fighting an old fight, instead of focusing on making the best of it.
I still see people going on about the disaster that will befall us when sterling comes crashing down around our ears, on exited the EU.
I say if you’re so sure of a future outcome take advantage of it instead of complaining.
For example – If the pound is going to plummet, because of Brexit, sell as much money as you can get hold of and buy a competing currency, like the Euro, you’ll make a fortune if you’re right. That’s a case of going from victim to victor in one foul swoop.
Any fool can moan and complain, but it takes someone with a bit of nowse to look for opportunities instead of being fearful of what could go wrong. If you’re certain of a future outcome, you’d be crazy if you didn’t move to take advantage of it.
But if you aren’t as sure as you make out on social media, give it a rest pretending you are. It’s not helpful, it doesn’t provide solutions to the situation as it is today.
If you’re guilty of saying the following statements, you need to sign up to my email list
I’m not getting quality leads anymore from [X]
[X] is not delivering[ Y], and that’s why my business is failing
People just aren’t buying anymore
People don’t want to pay for [Y] anymore
Everyone wants something for nothing these days
Too much competition, charging ridiculous prices, I can’t compete, they
won’t be around long, but long enough to hurt my business
There’s downwards pressure on prices
It’s a dying industry, technology is disrupting my business model
It’s much harder to make money in this industry now
All of these statements are excuses; they are examples of you complaining and blaming other people, organisations, circumstances, situations, and/or events for your predicament. They are COPING STRATEGIES designed to deflect responsibility from yourself onto others. This may seem like a good strategy, after all, if someone else is at fault for the position you find yourself in, then you don’t have to deal with the feeling of guilt for messing things up.
But in fact by blaming others, by complaining about how life has conspired against you, you are not just passing on blame, you are also passing power, the very power you need to get yourself out of the mess you find yourself in.
Until you TAKE RESPONSIBILITY for your situation, you will not be able to access your RESOURCEFULNESS. You need to have the right mindset to be able to make a sustained effort to make things right, and resourcefulness is required to find the innovative approach you’re going to need to succeed.
TAKE RESPONSIBILITY for yours and other people’s actions and the consequences of those actions on you and your business. You might think it’s harsh to have to take responsibility for what other people do, but at the end of the day, it’s you and your business that will have to pick up the pieces if things head south. So make sure you vet those that you invite into your life/business, either as friends, partners, investors, employees, suppliers or customers. Don’t rely blindly on others’, do your due diligence and have the necessary checks, controls and plan B contingencies in place to make sure you are living up to your responsibilities, for youself,
Open up your mind to the possibilities, enabling you to access your RESOURCEFULNESS to find that innovative approach which is going to turn your fortunes around and allow you to achieve success.
When it comes to moving closer to goals, by actually taking action, many people can’t even seem to get started. They come up with lots of excuses why they shouldn’t act. For example if you have a goal of becoming a successful business owner, or entrepreneur, you might say to yourself via your inner dialogue…
Justifications for maintaining the current status quo
It’s less risky to just keep doing what I am currently doing (not taking action)
I’m too busy with my current work and family schedule, I don’t really have the time to devote to pursue my goal(s). Working evenings will cut into my time with family an friends.
Possible negative consequences of taking action
It will take time, skills that I may not have
I could fail (so won’t take the risk)
I want to put myself in a situation where I’m being judged by others
People might think I’m fake, a fraud
I don’t know or might not know how to do it (what needs doing)
My idea isn’t good enough, or might not be good enough
I could waste lots of time, effort, money investing in something that just doesn’t work out, so why even bother
Success will mean working all hours and will have no time for family
I’m scared of pushing myself and doing things outside my comfort zone, because it’s uncomfortable
I don’t like asking people for help, and I might have to do
I don’t like asking people to buy from me, I just can’t sell
I might lose all my money
I might get ripped off by scam artist who takes advantage of my naivety
Talking professionally to people (in case they think I’m a fake)
I might be promising something I can’t deliver
I might ruining my reputation, when it’s very important to me
I don’t like giving presentations, pitching, speaking in front of customers, audience and might find I have to at some point
I don’t like the idea of putting myself out there and feeling vulnerable
I don’t like to rely /depend on other people, in case I get let down
If you’re trying to lose weight or get fit you might say to yourself…
Justifications for maintaining the current status quo
I love eating tasty fatty foods – they taste so good. I always have good intentions but when I’m hungry, I just give in
I want to watch TV rather than going out and exercising in the cold/at the gym
Possible negative consequences of taking action
Healthy food doesn’t taste as good as fatty food
Exercise is too hard, I don’t enjoy it, and can’t deal with the discomfort and pain
Issues with self esteem or even some degree of self loathing, can sometimes result in people finding comfort in binge eating, which further fuels self loathing and lowers self esteem. In such circumstances you should try to deal with the underlying root issues, as the eating is a manifestation of these, rather than the root cause.
Why you come up with excuses
This list of excuses, is your mind trying to rationalise the decision not to take action. On one hand you feel you should be doing something in pursuit of your goals, after all everyone says you should have goals, don’t they? On the other hand part of you fears taking the risk.
When you contemplate moving from your comfort zone, your current situation, and the routines and habits that you have, and maybe have had for some time, to something that feels new, you will naturally feel some level of fear.
You are hardwired, through evolution, to resist putting yourself in dangerous situations, and change is perceived as being potentially bad. Change equals uncertainty and uncertainty could result in risk and possible danger. Risk and danger is considered bad because your sense of self (who you see yourself to be) could be devalued in some way, and your survival instincts will do its level best to ensure this doesn’t happen.
All action is driven by the need to avoid pain and being destroyed, and all your actions are built on this one need. You continually strive for more, because being more means you are further away from being nothing. The more you have, the more you are. So you’re not a freak because you’re not taking action, you’re trapped by your fear of change, uncertainty, risk, danger, failure, you might even be fearful of success, or at least the consequences of success (no time to spend with friends and family, responsibility etc).
Moving beyond fear
So now we know why we aren’t taking action, we can move on to working out a strategy for overcome these limiting thoughts and beliefs.
The first thing to consider is how real these perceived dangers are and how seriously are they likely to impact you, should they materialise.
Without knowing your personal situation in more detail, it is difficult to give a specific answer, but general fears can be looked upon in the following ways:
Being judged by others
With regards to being judged by others, if you had more self confidence or self esteem, other peoples’ opinions would matter much less to you. Sure, we all like to be liked, but being dependant on other peoples’ opinions, is not healthy. You will tend to make up stories about how and why this and that person doesn’t like you, which is usually nothing more than a fictional story of your own invention and more about your own judgements of yourself, rather than theirs.
If another person doesn’t like you, and you know this for sure, because they have actually told you so, and for XYZ reasons then at least you know, rather than suspect. You can either try to adjust your behaviour, if you agree that it is unacceptable, or ignore their views, if you disagree. After all they might be accusing you of behaving unacceptably when they are the ones with the insecurities and esteem issues. Remember they are being driven by the same insecurities and fears that you are, and putting yourself in their shoes through empathy, allows you to realise this. They might be lashing out because of their own pain, rather than it being you.
I believe if you are truly joyous and genuinely happy and aligned inside, you have no reason to attack or belittle another person. Anger, frustration, fear and all negative emotions come from insecurities and pain within you, which is already there, but just being aroused by the situation you’re reacting to. Check out my wellbeing guide for more information, particularly the equation of emotion part which details how negative emotions are created.
Not good enough
If you believe you’re not good enough or not up-to-the-job. Try to understand where these thoughts are coming from. Again your self-preservation instincts will try to protect you from risky situations, but you can move beyond this by identifying your weaknesses and educating yourself into mastering them.
Low self esteem and lack of belief in yourself can be embedded deep into your psyche from early childhood, when you were very impressionable and filtered your experiences less. If your environment at an early age was not supportive, maybe you were continually told you were not good enough, or were not given enough love from one or more of your parents, whom you craved love from. Or you were discouraged to take risks or do things outside the norm, being told not to do something “for your own safety”, or told to fit in and not stand out, these fears and insecurities might still be lingering in the background of your mind, influencing your present decision making and possibly sabotaging your goals. None of these things can be considered as “truths”, they were opinions and actions from people who themselves were in some degree of pain, and may well have been just passing on their own insecurities and fears through their actions and words.
You can be good enough if you’re willing to make the effort and put in the work. If you don’t want to make the effort then you’re probably not going to get far, for that reason. Check out my work ethic article for more.
Now a caveat. Talent has a part to play in success, particularly when you’re competing with others to get to the top. You should look to play to your strengths, and you will have strengths as well as weaknesses. We all have weaknesses so don’t feel bad about them. I would love to be a singer, unfortunately I can’t hold a tune, I’m terrible, really. I could probably improve with training and purposeful practice, but I would never be able to go beyond my physical limitations. I might, with lots of practice, get good enough to perform at a certain level but I would never be at the top of the tree. Such limitations are true of some activities, singing, I would say is one, some kinds of sports that rely on certain physical characteristics and prowess, maybe another. But there are many more things that don’t have such limitations, you can practice and practice and become better, and be as good as you want to be. Often hard work trumps talent, when talent doesn’t work. Check out my article on self awareness, because this is key to identifying your strengths and weaknesses.
Fearing success
You might have an inner conflict of wanting to be successful, while at the same time fearing the consequences of success, like having no time for friends and family or relying on other people or being ripped off, or having to shoulder responsibility for yourself and others.
The best thing to do is examine these conflicts and resolve them. If you don’t want to work all hours and miss time with family and friends, then find a lifestyle business that doesn’t depend on your presence so much. Many large businesses have managers operating the business on behalf of the owners, so scale could work in your favour after the initial building phase. Some businesses, such as online businesses can be worked on around family time, or be outsourced/delegated to someone else. If you first, identify the conflict and confront it, you can then work out a solution to move beyond it. If you can’t resolve it, maybe you should drop that particular goal and find a different one that best suits who you are. It’s really no good trying to put a square brick into a round hole (check out my article on self awareness).
Conflicting wants
Wanting one thing (your goal), but also wanting something that is counter-productive to that goal, is obviously problematic. For example if you want to lose weight, be lean, get fit, but can’t resist eating fatty foods such as chocs, snacks, sweets, burgers and the like, you have a conflict of wants. You might have good intentions, but when the temptation is there, for example having chocs in the cupboard, you find it almost impossible to resist, without having a huge amount of self control and willpower.
Another example: If you want to get an assignment done, but can’t resist watching your favourite sports team playing, or can’t face pulling yourself away from the TV, then you have a a conflict of wants.
One solution is to avoid putting yourself in situations that provide temptations or distractions. If you’ve no chocolates in the cupboard, you can’t eat them. If there’s no TV, you can’t watch it. It all comes down to deciding your priorities.
Personally I can work on my laptop, while sat in front of the TV and remain 100% focused on what I’m doing. This means I don’t feel I’m having to lock myself away or miss out on anything. It encourages me to work more frequently and intensely, and really, the TV, even with the sound on low, doesn’t distract me. I find I’m more productive working that way. Find what works best for you.
Giving yourself a reason to take action
Life is all about making choices. You will take the action that drives you most. You will take the action that NEEDS to be done or else…., or that you really WANT to do. Check out my article about getting into a WANT or NEED state of motivation.
Give yourself a compelling reason to take action and you’re more likely to take it. Motivation has many elements, check out my motivational guide here.
Life is full of ups and downs. Some things we can influence, others not so much. Many situations will be made up of winners and losers. It’s just the way life rolls.
You might not always be able to dictate the terms of your life, but the one thing you have complete control over is how you deal with the ebbs and flows.
You can either position yourself psychologically as a victor or a victim.
Victim
The blame game
Victim mentality looks for other people or other things to blame for failure. They blame their circumstances, their lack of support, resources, money, time, know-how, their boss, they just blame. Blame helps to make the individual feel better, because it wasn’t their fault. One of the hardest things to admit is your own inadequacies. It’s really hard to look yourself in the mirror and admit you messed up at some point. Your Ego would rather cover up your shortcomings and have you believe the blame is over there, somewhere else.
Excuses are useless
Victim mentality is quick to find excuses for why things didn’t fall right for you, or didn’t work out the way you wanted, and for the same reason as pointed out when discussing “blame”, it’s just easier to do.
Denial is delusion
Denial is another self preservation tactic. Burying your head in the sand and hoping it goes away is a form of self delusion, failing to admit the reality of the situation is another.
Victim mentality is aimed at self protection, it’s a defensive tactic aimed at cushioning the blow. If you admit you were wrong your subconscious sees this as a big deal, cause if your wrong in a life or death situation, you could be toast. Your mind, doesn’t want to admit this could be the case, cause that’s what the minds there to do, keep you safe. It’s better to delude yourself, that way you can move on more quickly and try to forget about the whole sorry episode.
It’s easier to blame, excuse or deny, rather than have to look deeper into where the mistakes really lay, so laziness is part of the problem when it comes to a lack of self-analysis.
Live to be a Victor
If you take a Victor mentality, you empower yourself to really look at what went wrong and why. You might not be a victor of the situation, in that you haven’t won in absolute terms, in fact you’re likely to have lost. But by taking a victor mentality, you can at least learn any lessons that are there to learn.
Negative situations are inevitable at some time in your life. S**t happens, but feeling sorry for yourself doesn’t really serve over a prolonged period. Feel the grief of loss, feel the hurt, sure you should always face it full on and deal with it, but then learn what needs to be learned and move forward. Don’t hold on to the past negativity, just take the lessons forward with you.
Unless it’s a real life and death situation, most things are not that important in the great scheme of things. Money can be earned again, stuff can be replaced. “People”, and “Time are the two things worthy of real grief, and while they are beyond the scope of this article, even they should not be seen as a dead-end that can not be moved beyond. They surely can, with the right “victor” mentality.
The law of opposites says there are always positives in any negative, if you look hard enough and approach from an empowered perspective. Take ownership and responsibility. It’s your job, nobody else’s. Sure use the support of those closest to you to help you through emotionally, but don’t expect them to provide the answers for you, the solutions are within you, they are there, if you open to them.
So instead of playing the victim, blaming, excusing and denying, take ownership, take responsibility and be accountable for the situations you find yourself in, and use them as your strength for improvement and progress.
