This personal development article is written by Jodi-Ann Walker.

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"Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved"- Williams Jennings Bryan

Stephen R.W. Covey, the author of Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, noted that people who decide to become successful in life move from a state of dependence to independence by developing the habits of being proactive, writing a personal vision, and placing first things first. People who are highly effective do not depend on other people's permission to be successful. They are independent from other people's environment, circumstances, or systems granting them the permission to maximize their potential and to become master of their own destiny. They take the initiative and the necessary action to achieve what they desire in life. Here are some steps to be taken if you want to mentally shift from dependence to independence:

  • Decide to take full responsibility for what happens in your life--and stop blaming others. When you do this, you are empowering yourself to come out of a victim mentality. You have decide to stop looking for a hand-out and to help yourself out of a situation by renewing your mind/thought patterns.
  • You need to take initiative by making things happen rather than waiting for things to happen for you.Apart of taking full responsibility for what takes place
    in your life is having the determination to create opportunities for yourself when none can be found.Francis Bacon said, "Wise people make more opportunities than they find." You need to have the presence of mind to recognize an opportunity and not let it pass you by while you are still thinking about it.Cary Grant said that,"Few people recognize opportunity because it comes disguised as work." Many people miss out on an invaluable opportunity because they feel as if it is too hard or they, plain and simple, do not have the discipline to follow through. This brings me to my next point:
  • You need to have discipline to follow through on achieving your goals and acting on opportunities. It has been said that a talented person without discipline is like "an octopus on roller-skates." This is because this person does not have the focus, drive, or motivation to accomplish what he or she wants. They are going in different directions all at the same time. If a person lacks discipline, irrespective of the person's talent, brilliance, social background or connections, it will be quite difficult for this person to maximize their true potential. This is because discipline is required to develop your inner power and the focus necessary to accomplish your goals. Without discipline, you will lose your way on the road to destiny.

Your life purpose or destiny is not achieved by accident. It is achieved through hard work, discipline, and systematic goal setting and accomplishing. If you decide to take full responsibility for your destiny and stop depending on others, you will be well on your way to developing the power within to accomplish your life purpose and rule your destiny.