This post is inspired by words Isaac Morehouse spoke on an episode of the Abby Lovett podcast.

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Betting on yourself is as straightforward as it sounds. When you bet on yourself, you are essentially relieving yourself of any excuses you have at your disposal. Betting on yourself means relying on nothing but your inner warrior to create the reality you want.

Normally, we like to bet on things other than ourselves.

We bet on grades. As long as we get good grades, we’re good to go.

We bet on buying a degree. As long as we buy a degree, we’ll get the job we want.

We bet on getting that one job. Once we have that job, we can then be happy.

We bet on a new year. When we get a fresh start, we’ll finally chase our dreams.

We even bet on relationships. When we have that person, we’ll finally be empowered.

We bet on things other than ourselves because if our circumstance ends up differently from our predisposed idea of the right situation, we have something to fall back on. I don’t have the success I want because I didn’t get good grades. I’m miserable because I didn’t get that job. I didn’t get the job because my degree isn’t from a nice enough college.

Betting on yourself is becoming completely and unequivocally responsible for every decision in your life. It is acknowledging that no matter what, a series of your own decisions led you to where you are now. It is the death of excuses, justifications, or lies. It means relying on you, and only you, for getting what you want.

My suggestion is to make statements and transform them into “how” questions.

I didn’t get the job because I don’t have a degree. How can I get the job without a degree?

Our business failed because the stock market crashed. How can we be successful despite a stock market crash?

I didn’t get a raise because my boss doesn’t like me. How can I make my boss like me?

I’m not saying that this will always just get you whatever you please, but I can guarantee that sitting idly feels a whole lot worse than the empowerment of taking responsibility for your own actons, and therefore giving yourself permission to create your own reality.