Negative emotions are the major causes of psychosomatic illness.

This occurs when the mind (psycho) makes the body (soma) sick. Negative emotions, especially as expressed in the form of anger, weaken your immune system and make you susceptible to colds, flu, and other diseases.

All negative emotions, especially anger, depend for their very existence on your ability to blame someone or something else for something in your life that you are not happy about.

It takes tremendous self-discipline to refrain from blaming others for our problems. It takes enormous self-control to refuse to make excuses.

It takes tremendous self-mastery for you to take complete control of your conscious mind and deliberately choose to think positive, constructive thoughts that enhance your life and improve the quality of your relationships and results. But the payoff is tremendous.

Many of our biggest problems and concerns in life have to do with money: earning it, spending it, investing it, and, especially, losing it.

the fact is that you are responsible for your financial life. You choose. You decide. You are in charge. You cannot blame your financial problems or situation on other people. You are in the driver’s seat.

There is a direct relationship between the acceptance of responsibility and the amount of personal control you feel you have over your life. This means that the more you accept responsibility, the greater sense of control you experience.

There is also a direct relationship between the amount of control you feel you have and how positive you feel. The more you feel that the more positive and happy you are in everything you do.

the antidote to negative emotions is to say, “I am responsible.” Then look into the situation to find the reasons why you are responsible for what happened or for what is going on.

You can use your intelligence to rationalize, justify, and blame other people for things you are not happy about, or you can use your intelligence to find reasons why you are responsible for what happened and then take action to solve the problem or resolve the situation.

Even if an accident has occurred, such as your car being damaged in the parking lot while you are at work, you may not be legally at fault for the accident. But you are still responsible for your responses, for how you behave as a result of what happened.

It is not possible to imagine a true leader who whines and complains rather than taking action when problems and difficulties arise.

You take responsibility for your life by resolving, in advance, that you will not become upset or angry over something that you cannot affect or change.

It is amazing how many people are unhappy today because of a past event, even something that happened many years ago. Each time they think of the negative experience, they become angry or depressed once again.

The good news is that at any time, you can stop thinking about, discussing, and rehashing the past. You can let it go and begin thinking instead about your goals and your unlimited future.

Any self-discipline, self-mastery, and self-control begin with taking responsibility for your emotions

You refuse to make excuses, complain, criticize, or blame other people for anything. Instead, you say, “I am responsible,” and then take action of some kind.