The more you study successful people, the more you’ll recognize that the difference between whether one succeeds or fails ultimately comes down to one simple factor.
Urban Meyer, the Ohio State football coach and winner of three National Championships, explains exactly what that difference-maker is…
Event + Response = Outcome
That equation teaches something very important about the way life works. We don’t control the events in life, and we don’t directly control the outcomes. But we always have control over how we choose to respond. How we respond means everything.
We call it the R Factor.
It’s important to understand that success is not determined by the situations you experience. Success is determined by how you choose to manage the R.
Every day you make R Factor decisions. You choose what actions you will take or not take in pursuit of your goals. You choose whether to give up or persevere through the inevitable obstacles you will experience. You choose how to interact with people at work and family at home.
Every day you make decisions about how to respond. And how you respond makes all the difference.
It is the factor that determines the quality of your life.
– Urban Meyer, from his book Above the Line
E + R = O has been called “The Success Equation” because once you understand it and embrace it as a way of life, it changes everything.
You accept the fact that no amount of wishful thinking or obsessive worrying is going to change the Es in your life—the Events you encounter.
But, you also recognize that you have 100% control over the Rs—your Responses to those Events. And the Rs you choose will determine the Os—the Outcomes you ultimately experience.
If the R in the Success Equation is the only thing you have total control over, then it makes sense that all your energy and focus should be on the Rs, and not the Es.
When you encounter a negative Event, no matter how big or how small, what is your typical reaction? Do you get angry at yourself? Do you look for someone or something to blame? Do you get down and wallow in self-pity, even for just a moment?
These are all negative Responses to an Event you don’t have any control over. You need to recognize as quickly as possible that you are focusing on the E and not the R.
Every minute you spend stressing about the Events in your life is a minute you should have spent focusing on your Response.
Successful people focus their time and energy on the Rs. Unsuccessful people focus too much on the Es.
Accepting that simple fact is a game-changer in how you live your life.
Instead of wallowing in the past and asking, “Why me?” you need to be focusing on the R Factor and asking, “What am I going to do about this?”
Instead of hoping and wishing for an easier future Event, you should be preparing yourself for a stronger Response to whatever that Event may be.
Instead of blaming others for the Event or making excuses about the Event, you should be taking full responsibility for your Response.
That is what makes the difference between success and failure.
