In this chapter of James Allen’s book, As a Man Thinketh, Allen discusses the relationship between thought and personal achievement, emphasizing the importance of the quality of one’s thoughts, but more interestingly, in taking absolute responsibility.

“Our weakness and strength, purity and impurity, are our own and not another’s. They are brought about by ourselves and not by others; and they can be altered only by ourselves, never by others. Our condition is also our own and not another’s. Our suffering and our happiness are evolved from within.”

-James Allen

Acknowledging that the responsibility for everything in our lives is our own is the first step. The second and more important step is accepting that responsibility and then shouldering it with honor. You have to take care of your problems yourself. You cannot wait for anyone else to do so for you. Be the hero of your story, and not a helpless victim.

The acceptance of responsibility is such an important concept that M. Scott Peck in his book, The Road Less Traveled, writes that during his time as a psychologist the most common cause of mental illness was what he thought was the avoidance of responsibility. That is something I had never heard a psychologist say before and I found it incredibly refreshing and profound. If you observe yourself and others, you will find truth in his words.

Everything that you are and that you are not is your own fault; the responsibility falls on you to make changes. You must be willing to change and willing to make sacrifices to achieve your goals. The first thing that must change is the way you think.

“Unless we can strongly control our thoughts, we are not in a position to control affairs and to adopt serious responsibility.”

-James Allen

Say your goal was to become a business owner. You will never be a business owner if you don’t accept the responsibility for everything that comes with such a position, and you will never get there if you are a mental weakling and you are having mental and emotional crises every other day. If you lack control over your own thoughts, then how would you ever expect to control a business? How will you handle serious decisions if small ones devastate you?

You have to be willing to sacrifice your lazy habits. You have to sacrifice time you once used to indulge in entertainment to spend it building your business. You have to sacrifice who you were before to become the person you want to become.

“There can be no progress, no achievement, without sacrifice, and our worldly success will be the measure that we sacrifice confused animal thoughts and fix our mind on the development of our plans and the strengthening of our resolution and self-reliance.”

-James Allen

Accept responsibility. Control your thoughts. Make the appropriate sacrifices. Achieve your aspirations.

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