How many times in my life have I sat complaining about something without taking meaningful action? It might be a bad situation at work in which I felt trapped. It might be something one of the governments of Canada did. It might be something about a relationship I’m in. Whatever it is, am I complaining or am I doing something to try and change the outcome?

Recently, the Government of the Province of Ontario raised the minimum wage. Arguably this is overdue as the minimum wage has been the same for years. However, the way in which the Government did it is problematic as they increased it by approximately 30% in one step. 

I will not deny this increase is a good thing for minimum wage workers. For small business owners, though, this increase can be a big problem. Many of them are already running with tight margins. To balance their books with such an increase the owners are having to make tough decisions. 

What is not helping is how our Government is taking no responsibility for the impact of the increase. In fact, the Government has come out with statements that seemingly vilifies small business owners. My personal opinion is I believe this big jump right now is a move to buy votes from Ontario’s minimum wage workers in an upcoming election. 

That gives the context for what the rest of this post is about. You may not agree with my views and that is fine. We can talk about our difference of opinion if you want but that is a different topic.

What really struck me this week is a post on Facebook in which my friend Ron Hallman acted. Ron is a small business owner and is feeling the impact of how our Government is handling this increase. He could easily sit around complaining to his friends and anyone else that would listen. Or, he could start a video series like this:

Whether or not you agree with Ron, the point is we live in a society in which we can take such actions. So, if there are things in my life I am tolerating, the question becomes what am I going to do about it. What action will I take to try and change the situation?

Thought of the week

What are the problems in your life in which you find yourself just coping and ‘getting through it day to day’? The good news is you always get to choose the mindset you are in with any problem.

You can choose to sit and blame someone else or come up with a really good excuse for having the problem. You can just sit in shame believing you couldn’t be any better. You could just go through the motions out of obligation. If you find yourself in one of these mindsets you’re not a bad person, you’re just human.

When I see myself in one of these mindsets I make a different choice. I want to take responsibility for the world around me. When I have a problem I prefer to confront the reality. Ron is helping the voice of the small business owner be heard. For me, this is a great example of taking responsibility. 

When it comes to the problems in your life, what are you going to choose this week? Are you going to complain and cope? Or, are you going to take responsibility?

I hope you choose responsibility!

Want to learn more about taking responsibility?

Check out this book by Christopher Avery:

Building Great Teams

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