Your Circumstances Don’t Limit You

I spent much of my adult life thinking that life was unfair and that other people had all the luck. I blamed my circumstances for my life's direction instead of taking ownership of my choices that led to those circumstances. I had to learn that often, my choices led to my circumstances, but I had the opportunity to change my circumstances and (more importantly) my outlook on those circumstances.

This required that I shift how I looked at my day-to-day challenges. In all situations I had a choice to act like a victim and feel helpless or to act like a hero and take control of how I looked at my life.

Recently, I had a conversation with another business owner who was complaining about how their business was struggling. They listed all the things that weren’t going right and began blaming everyone else, including their customers, for why their business wasn’t performing as well as they wanted.

I’ve been there, and honestly, I sometimes still slip into that mindset. However, as they were talking, it became apparent to me that they were blaming their circumstances and didn’t view this time as an opportunity. Not only was this an opportunity for them to learn and grow into better business owners, but it was also an opportunity to reframe how they responded to difficulties.

I think it’s safe to say that we all go through difficult times. Life isn’t bliss all the time, and often, our circumstances are out of our control, but we get to choose how we respond in those moments. Even if our choices can’t change our immediate situation, they can change our outlook and how we move forward.

Do you ever get stuck focused on an unfortunate circumstance and lose sight of what you can control? In all situations, even those in which you feel the most powerless, you have the power to control how you respond.

Could you be kind? Be kind.

Could you be helpful? Be helpful.

Could you be truthful? Be truthful.

With enough practice, these can become our default settings, and we no longer feel stuck in our circumstances; we feel empowered and in control.

Rather than choosing to blame your circumstances, choose to work on your personality traits. Those things you’ve worked hard to be better at are of higher value anyway.