Putting yourself at cause is about recognising that you have the ability to respond rather than just react to whatever life throws at you. When you are at “cause”, you can make things happen; you have the power to change things. You see yourself as the creator of your destiny. When you live at “cause” you are open to possibilities and you empower yourself to take action and change what you currently not like about your life. In contrast, when you live at the “effect” of life others are responsible for the things that happen to you and for how you feel. When you think like this you are accepting a belief that emotions are things which just happen to you, or that other people cause in you. You may remember at times saying: “ He made me angry”; or “I couldn’t finish the report because my computer crashed!”
When you spend most of your life at the effect of things you give your power away. The other thing worth noticing about cause and effect is this: when you live at the effect side of the equation, it makes you less effective at dealing with the different situations in life. Being at the effect of things is living in a downward spiral world. When you react to things, you start asking yourself: “Why?” “Why does this always happen to me?” The question “why” focuses your attention towards the past. In contrast, when you move to the cause side of the equation, you believe “I can make a difference; I can make things happen; I am responsible for how I feel and for where I am.”
So when you place yourself at cause, and something happens that you don’t like, you are more likely to ask the following questions: “What’s going on here? How has this come about? What can I do to change thing?” or even “What do I want instead of this in the future?” These questions focus your attentions on the now, where you can actually do something, take action and make a difference. These questions focus on solutions rather than staying stuck in the problem.
The more you choose to be at cause, the more resourceful and effective you will be in meeting the challenges that will present along the way. As always let me know how you are going, and if you believe that the content of this newsletter may be of value to someone you know, please share.
Have a great week.
The difference between living at cause or at the effect of life isn’t whether someone has problems. Everyone has problems. It’s attitude. It’s thinking patterns. It’s behaviour. Do you look for solutions or do you stay stuck looking for more problems?