Holding ourselves accountable

When a man points a finger at someone else, he should remember that four of his fingers are pointing at himself…Louis Nizer

In trading and living, the easiest way to deal with situations where you lose money, feel betrayed, hurt or wronged is to adopt the role of victim. We have become a nation of “victims” so much that people are advertising with license plates, caps and T-shirts. Last week I saw two license plates: VICTIM and IVICTIM. People who see themselves as victims love to flaunt it and get lots of publicity over it. Are we as a nation obsessed with victims? If so—why?

It’s easy to take the role of victim, since we live in a world where most are looking for the shortest and fastest way out of a situation. In a society of instant gratification where we want it all and want it now, the default mechanism is to “victim.” It’s the quick and dirty way to get it over with—just point a finger. People who wear victimhood as a badge of courage get lots of attention—so-called “secondary gain”—so there are interpersonal and sociological components to this that run very deep.

In the financial markets, you see it every day. It’s always someone else’s fault that you lost money on a trade. It’s the hedge funds, the high frequency traders, the financial media, your newsletter guru, the short sellers, the day traders, the speculators, the market manipulators, the Plunge Protection Team…..the list is endless.

What purpose does this serve? Why is victim the default?

The answer is---just like making money trading the markets---simple but not easy.

Blaming and pointing fingers absolves you from any degree of personal responsibility. In this way, you resist looking within and asking the most critical question " What is my part this?" For most of you, exploration of the inner self can be a lengthy and painful process. Looking outward and projecting fault to others is fast and easy. The former is freeing, while the latter imprisons.

Life is a creative process. You create your reality every minute---often without being aware of it. You can have, do, be and manifest whatever you imagine if you are committed and prepared to do the requisite work.

The three most powerful words you can ever say are: I Am Responsible

Personal responsibility is a mantra, a vibration, a leap of the human spirit and life force. The essence of taking personal responsibility is that you are accountable for everything you believe, think and do. Your life is yours, your choices are yours. At this very moment, you are putting into action everything you want and need.

The act of taking personal responsibility for every experience---beginning with your unconscious assumptions and unspoken inner dialog---is the first step in returning to the true source of your power and unhooking your ego from its blaming and excuse-making.

This act of making yourself accountable is perhaps the most critical part of evolving from immature reactivity to mature responsibility—both as a trader and a human being. In doing this, you expand beyond the limiting constraints of your ego into a space of unbounded opportunity and unlimited potential.

There are some 50 trillion cells in your body primed for energetic renewal. Each moment of the day, armed with the power of personal responsibility, you will continue to renew yourself. You will see yourself living life as a work of art, rather than a chaotic reaction to external events. Subtly, you will find yourself moving forward into a new freedom and a new happiness. In this way, every moment is the perfect moment...and you are always in it.

Where you are, the world is. Without your transformation, there can be no transformation of the world…J. Krishnamutri