Your Success Is Up To You

optionsThere are a ton of excuses. The economy is bad, I live in a terrible area, I wan’t given the chance, the list goes on and on.While certainly outside circumstances  have an effect, ultimately your success is up to you.

In a recent story about bad schools, a student stated that now he knows it isn’t his fault he can’t read, it’s the school’s fault. While the school bears some responsibility, the child and his family knew he couldn’t read. Did he try to get help? Did he get a tutor? Did he even watch Sesame Street? No. He did nothing to change his situation and now it’s the school’s fault.

Sheryl Sandberg wrote the book “Lean In” to give women advice on how to get ahead in business. The publication was greeted by a large number of women yelling that how dare she suggest we do something different. While many more women were happy to have the advice, this group fell back into the victim mindset, essentially saying “It’s their fault why should we change.”

The choice of being a success or a victim of circumstance is up to you. Choose wisely.