Are you waiting to see change in some area of your life?

In very few cases, time is needed to bring about that change.

Time can be a profound healer, I have experienced this first hand. So I don’t underestimate the value of time.

But in most cases, change will only come when you take radical responsibility.

What happens when you don’t take radical responsibility is that you are effectively blaming external factors for your current situation.

Some cultures are more obvious about this than others.

In Spanish, the entire language is designed to blame shift with the passive form of verbs. “It fell from me,” rather than “I dropped it.”

But don’t be fooled.

Blame shifting is pervasive in anglo culture.

You see it in the English language too: “you made me mad.”

Let’s slow that one down.

Only you are responsible for your emotions.

Someone cannot make you feel a certain way.

Now, to be clear, someone’s actions may stir a reaction within you, but you’re giving them way too much power to say they made you feel a certain way.

So what does it mean to take radical responsibility?

I’m going to outline three ways you can start taking radical responsibility in your life.

1. Own your emotions.

You need to do the inner work to process your emotions and understand what they are trying to tell you.

Emotions are always an arrow pointing you in a certain direction.

When you have taken the time to listen to your emotions and are no longer in a reactive state, then and only then are you ready to make a decision and take action.

2. Be honest with yourself

This one can be tricky if you haven’t cultivated a strong awareness of your internal compass.

A lot of us made it through childhood by tuning into the reactions of others toward us rather than by listening to our internal compass, so have some grace for yourself if you have lost this attunement with yourself.

It can be cultivated.

What comprises your internal compass, you ask?

It is comprised of your values (the things that matter most to you at this phase in life), your desires, your bodily sensations, your emotions, and your intuition (or inner knowing). Click on the links for articles that expand on each one of these.

When you can be honest with yourself about what matters to you or what it is you want, then you can take responsibility to make sure that you make decisions that are values-aligned, make requests of others or pursue action to follow your desires.

When you listen to your intuition, your emotions, and your bodily signals, you can then take the appropriate steps to honor what they are telling you.

Stop letting others call the shots in your life. Start being honest with yourself and what you need and take the appropriate action.

3. Own your part.

In all of life, you are co-creating your reality.

Sure, others may be involved, it takes two to tango.

But if you were to change the way you show up, either for a relationship, or for work, or for any area of life, you would necessarily get different results than you are getting now.

You have created the perfect system for getting your results. Do the work to uncover your current system, and you can make the necessary changes to get the results you want.

What is an area in life where you need to take radical responsibility?

If you’d like some help with this, you know I’ve got you.

Love,

Audrey