One of the human traits that never ceases to amaze me is how good we are at attributing our wins to our own capabilities and, conversely, attribute our losses to circumstances or others. When I lived in the US, there were quite a few court cases, typically class action, where a group of shareholders that lost money on their investment were looking to take the company they invested in to court to get reimbursed (and then some) for the unfortunate outcome.

Rather than taking responsibility for your own actions, I guess it’s easier to blame someone else. We see this all the time. In football matches, judges are blamed when a team does poorly. Helicopter parents blame teachers when their precious kid fails to get straight As. House buyers blame sellers for defects that were easily visible but that they missed.

My lesson after a couple of times around the sun is there is only one answer: no matter the outcome, I own it. It’s my problem, independent of the cause of the problem. The buck stops here. So, as a reflection for today: any situations in your life where you’re blaming others? What would it take for you to own it?