“When things go wrong, the natural tendency is to look for someone to blame.”

A thought by John C. Maxwell (2016-02-02) from his book, 3 Things Successful People Do: The Road Map That Will Change Your Life (p. 118). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title of the book to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

Maybe you’re in a bad situation and you are wondering whose fault it is. But John says, “The next time you experience a failure, think about why you failed instead of who was at fault. Try to look at it objectively so that you can do better next time.”

He then shares from his friend, Bobb Biehl a list of questions to help you analyze any failure. Here they are:

“• What lessons have I learned? • Am I grateful for this experience? • How can I turn the failure into success? • Practically speaking, where do I go from here? • Who else has failed in this way before, and how can that person help me? • How can my experience help others someday to keep from failing? • Did I fail because of another person, because of my situation, or because of myself? • Did I actually fail, or did I fall from taking it? • Others: No one but you is responsible for the choices you make today. You may have been hurt or abused in the past, but it’s up to you to overcome that injury— just as you would a physical one— and move beyond it.”

John then says, “People who blame others for their failures never overcome them. They move from problem to problem, and as a result, they never experience success. To reach your potential, you must continually improve yourself, and you can’t do that if you don’t take responsibility for your actions and learn from your mistakes.”

As Rick Warren says, Blaming is being lame.” Accept responsibility and learn and grow from them.

So do you have the problem of blaming?

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