Stop Blaming Your Circumstances

Every once in a while, words hit extremely close to home. The following quote by George Bernard Shaw were such words. When I heard them, I was caught red handed and knew I needed to make a change.

I want to tell you the quote and then take you through my thinking process — line by line. Then you can decide if you too want to make any changes to the way you think and live.

The Quote

People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can’t find them, make them. — George Bernard Shaw

People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are

You’ve heard it. I’ve heard it. We’ve talked this way ourselves. “If it weren’t for my boss, I’d be so much farther ahead.” “The economy is terrible.” “My competition is killing me.” “I can’t focus because my knee is always stiffening up.” “If this accident hadn’t happened, I’d be so much farther ahead.” “My spouse / partner / kids / debt / hurts / scares / injury / upbringing / neighborhood holds me back.”

You get the picture. To be caught in the endless loop of blaming your circumstances for the condition of your life, state of mind, financial well being, emotional health, progress you’re making. It happens all the time.

I don’t believe in circumstances

What you believe in is what you move towards. If you believe in your circumstances, you fall victim to settling for the way things are, not for the way things could be. If you settle for the way things are and they are bad, you sink into a pit of despair and hopelessness. If you settle for the way things are and they are good, you grow complacent and proud. Believing in your circumstances puts a ceiling on your own growth and limits what’s possible.

Say to yourself, “I don’t believe in my circumstances. They do not describe the story I am telling myself.”

The people who get on in this world — get up and look for the circumstances they want

What’s your mindset first thing in the morning? Do you say, “Good Lord, it’s morning!” or do you say, “Good morning, Lord! The people who get on in this world look for the life they want instead of staring at the one they begrudgingly have.

I am in the middle of kick starting a re-branded coaching practice. Some days, if I only looked at my circumstances, I’d get back in bed and sleep for another hour. I’m choosing, however, to look for the circumstances I want and doing that gets me moving in the morning.

If they can’t find them, make them

Here’s the best news of all. Just because you don’t see the circumstances you want doesn’t mean they aren’t possible. To do that you have to imagine them and formulate a plan to create them. New and better circumstances don’t just happen but they are possible given you have the determination, talent, connections, hard work, and tenacity to create them.

“Thinking the same thoughts over and over, about the same issue, is not thinking. It’s being stuck.” — Henry Cloud

Stop blaming your circumstances and get unstuck by thinking and creating some new ones!

How do you need to think about your circumstances?