You may be familiar with the Carl Jung quote ‘we are not what happened to us, we are what we wish to become’. This quote is an example of cause and effect. A state of mind that determines how we interpret the outcomes in our life. It’s the difference between saying ‘how did I create this” and “why does this always happen to me”.

When we are in effect mode we are essentially playing the victim. Everything is always happening to us rather than because of us. We never take responsibility for our choices and never believe we are the cause. Cause and effect are applicable to both organisations and individuals. We are all products of the choices we make.

Here are some examples of cause and effect from a business perspective:

• Blackberry was not killed by the iPhone. The company had the choice to adopt the latest operating system yet remained stagnant and lost its 43% smartphone market share.
• Blockbuster did not go bust because of Netflix. It was their choice to not buy Netflix when they had the chance.
• Kodak chose not to enter the online photo-sharing market when they had the opportunity and subsequently failed because of that
• It isn’t the internet taking down the high street. It’s the retailer’s choice not to level up their customer service or not embrace the omnichannel experience.

In our personal lives, we might say we’re late to a meeting because we had to take a call. Yet, we chose to take the call that made us late. We had the power to not pick up the phone and chose to be late over calling back later.

36% of the UK are unhappy in their jobs (Independant, 2022). Yet, they chose to go to that job interview and to stay in their roles. We won’t begin to see results until we take 100% responsibility for the outcomes we cause. When we start to acknowledge our options we shift from being the victim to being the creator of our own life. This is when things will start to happen.

When I was overweight I said it was because I didn’t have the time to exercise. I blamed other aspects of my life rather than taking responsibility for my own choices. I was also very unhappy in my marriage and stayed because I believed I would never find anyone else. However, I was actually unhappy because I effectively made the choice to be there. I had the opportunity to leave, I just chose not to take it.

The second I started moving myself towards empowerment my outlook on life changed. Here’s what happened:

• I was able to create a life full of success and happiness
• I started to see more options open up for me both professionally and personally
• I felt less anxious because I had control of my outcomes.

Everyone can move towards empowerment. We all create our outcomes. It is essentially your mindset and your ability to question the limiting beliefs that give you the power to make positive change.

Through my experiences, I am now able to help others discover how they can move from the effect mode to the creator. I  empower them to create a future that they want to live.

“Don’t be incumbent by history, go off and do something wonderful” – Robert Noyce