“Take your life in your own hands, and what happens? A terrible thing: no one to blame.” – Erica Jong

Do you hate it when people complain? It turns out there’s a good reason: Listening to too much complaining is bad for your brain in multiple ways, according to Trevor Blake, a serial entrepreneur and author of T”hree Simple Steps: A Map to Success in Business and Life.”

“The brain works more like a muscle than we thought,” Blake says. “So if you’re pinned in a corner for too long listening to someone being negative, you’re more likely to behave that way as well.”

But if you’re running a company, don’t you need to hear about anything that may have gone wrong? “Typically, people who are complaining don’t want a solution,” Blake says. “They just want you to join in the indignity of the whole thing.”

As a Fearless Leader, you need to own it: Own it all.

Own the good stuff, own the bad stuff, own how you feel and own your reactions. Self-ownership makes you a Fearless Leader because so few people are able to do it.

You separate yourself from the masses by taking complete control of your life. Most people weaken themselves by blaming, complaining and making excuses.

A true leader takes full responsibility, not just for successes, but for failures as well.

Think about the strength and fortitude required to admit to a mistake. There’s nothing easy about it. You have to fight every natural impulse to allow yourself to be open to ridicule or judgment. That’s precisely why you become a Fearless Leader – by owning it all – the good, the bad, the ugly. It’s an enormous sign of power to those around you when you can show them that you’re not afraid to fail.

I’d love to know: when did you admit to a mistake, and own the situation? How did that make you feel?

Thanks for sharing!

For questions about this post or for information on becoming a fearless leader, contact Dr. Cathy Greenberg and The Fearless Leader Group at (888) 320-1299 or by email at hello@fearlessequalsfreedom.com.