“Seek not good from without; seek it within yourselves, or you will never find it.” – Epictetus

When something goes right, we’re relatively quick to point to actions we took to get there. But when something goes wrong, it’s all too easy for us to do the opposite. To play the “blame game”, where we’re using external events as excuses.

A core tenant of Mental Toughness is responsibility. To accept that we played a role. But the purpose is not to blame ourselves or throw a pity party. The purpose is that it gives us options.

When we take responsibility and look within, we now are in control. We can now focus on the moves to make to put ourselves into a better position. It opens our eyes to the path forward. If we do the opposite however, and blame the externals, we have surrendered control. We won’t have any control, as the story we’re telling ourselves is that outside events determine my path.

Responsibility is a weapon. And it only comes from within.