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Ideas without action aren’t ideas. They’re regrets.
- Steve Jobs
Thoughts are powerful. They control our perspective of the world which impacts our behavior and ultimately who we are.
But thoughts are not what define us — at least not if we can make conscious choices about them. The thoughts and ideas we choose to incorporate into our personal narrative — the “story of us” — are what ultimately define who we are.
While discovering our inner selves is very important, it’s important in the sense that it will help us understand our actions. It’s important to own our behavior.
We all have challenges we must overcome to understand and take full responsibility for ourselves. These obstacles are not our fault, but they are our responsibility. How we relate to others and ourselves matters.
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Good intentions are simply not enough. Our character is defined and our lives are determined not by what we want, say or think, but by what we do.
- Michael Josephson
Taking ownership of ourselves means not judging our thoughts and instead yearning to understand where they come from so that we can ultimately grow and become more in tune with what drives our behavior.