Why You’re Not Getting the Results You Want (It’s Not What You Think)

Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote: “The law of cause and effect is the law of all laws.”

In other words, this principle governs everything. For every effect you see in your life, there is a cause. And for every cause you set in motion, there is an effect. Period.

Think about it:

• The results you’re experiencing in your health, wealth, relationships, and leadership are not random.

• The growth (or lack of it) in your business isn’t the economy, the market, or luck;  it’s the result of causes that have been set in motion.

• The culture of your team isn’t an accident, it’s an effect of how you think, communicate, and act as a leader.

If you want to change your results, you must change the causes you’re creating.

For growth-minded leaders, this law is the foundation of personal empowerment and organizational transformation. Once you fully grasp it, you stop playing the role of victim and step into the role of creator. You stop saying “I can’t because…” and start asking “What am I the cause of?”

This blog will go deep into how you can harness this universal law to lead yourself and others with clarity, focus, and measurable results.

The Law of All Laws

The law of cause and effect is universal. It is not subjective, not selective, not optional.

If a good person and a bad person both step off a ten-story building, gravity doesn’t make an exception. Both fall. If a baby crawls to the edge, tragically, the same effect applies.

This law is not about fairness. It's about lawfulness.

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. For every cause, there is a definite effect. And everything you see in your life today is the effect of causes you’ve set in motion whether consciously or unconsciously.

That’s why my mentor Paul Martinelli, one of the great teachers of personal growth, emphasizes that our thoughts are the first cause of all things.

Thoughts as the First Cause

Here’s the sequence:

• Thoughts are energy.

• Energy creates vibration.

• Vibration attracts conditions, people, and opportunities.

• Those conditions and actions produce results.

Your dominant thoughts: what you dwell on, fear, imagine, and expect set the stage for the results you see.

For example:

• A leader who consistently thinks “I don’t have enough resources” will notice every scarcity, overlook opportunities, and unintentionally make decisions from fear. The effect? Missed growth.

• A leader who chooses to think “We’ll find a way” will notice possibilities, rally the team, and attract creative solutions. The effect? Progress and innovation.

Neuroscience shows that repeated thoughts literally rewire the brain through neuroplasticity. The more you focus on a thought, the stronger the neural pathway becomes, making it easier to act in alignment with that thought.

In other words, your brain is physically reshaped by the causes you feed it.

“As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” — Proverbs 23:7

Reflection Question: What’s one recurring thought you hold that is creating results in your life right now—positive or negative?

Why Most People Surrender Their Power

Despite this truth, most people live from the outside in.

They say:

• “He made me mad.”

• “The market made us fail.”

• “I can’t because I don’t have enough time or money.”

But this is an illusion of powerlessness.

No one can “make” you angry, sad, or hopeless without your permission. Those external triggers may be real, but your response is always a choice.

Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl, in his landmark book Man’s Search for Meaning, wrote:

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”

If Frankl could claim that truth while imprisoned in Auschwitz, stripped of freedom and subjected to unimaginable cruelty, then you and I can claim it in our daily lives.

Behavioral scientists estimate that up to 95% of our daily emotional responses are automatic habits. That means most people don’t consciously choose their reactions; they repeat old patterns.

Leaders who step into that “space” and choose their response gain an advantage few possess: self-mastery.

Reflection Question: Where are you currently surrendering your power by blaming circumstances instead of choosing your response?

Cause, Effect, and Leadership Results

Let’s bring this directly into business leadership.

• Leadership & Culture
  If your culture feels toxic, it’s not because you “just have the wrong people.” It’s the effect of leadership causes: communication patterns, accountability structures, and reinforcement loops.

• Sales & Revenue
  If sales are declining, it’s not “the economy.” It’s the effect of unclear positioning, weak prospecting habits, or lack of follow-up.

• Cashflow & Profitability
  If profitability is shrinking, it’s not “bad luck.” It’s the effect of pricing decisions, expense management, and operational efficiency

• Team Engagement
  If your team is disengaged, it’s not because “people don’t want to work.” Gallup studies show that 70% of employee engagement is driven by managers. Engagement is an effect of leadership behavior.

The Pippin Method (my proprietary business framework I use with clients) emphasizes that the four pillars of growth: Leadership, Product, Culture, and Cashflow are not random outcomes. They are effects. And the only way to change them is to change their causes.

The “Because” Trap

One of the biggest traps leaders fall into is the “because” story:

• “I can’t scale because I don’t have the right team.”

• “We can’t expand because the market is saturated.”

• “I can’t grow personally because I’m too busy.”

The truth? These “becauses” are excuses disguised as facts. They rob you of creative energy.

The moment you attribute the cause to something outside of you, you disempower yourself from creating change.

Reframing:

• Instead of “I can’t delegate because no one can do it right” → “I need to become the kind of leader who trains and trusts people to do it right.”

• Instead of “We can’t hit our numbers because the economy is down” → “We must innovate our sales process to reach buyers differently.”

Action Step: Write down your top three “because” statements. Reframe each into an empowering cause you control.

The Fear of Our Own Light

Marianne Williamson’s famous words remind us:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.”

Most leaders aren’t actually afraid of failing they’re afraid of what success would require of them. Because if you admit you are the cause, you also accept that you are responsible for changing things.

Responsibility can feel heavy, but it’s also liberating. If you caused it, you can change it.

Growth-minded leaders must embrace the truth that playing small doesn’t serve their families, their teams, or their calling.

Reflection Question: In what area of your life or business are you hiding your light under the excuse of “I can’t because”?

A Practical Framework to Apply Cause and Effect

Here’s a simple five-step practice to put this law into motion:

1. Awareness – Start by observing your thoughts. Are they empowering or disempowering?

2. Responsibility – Own the fact that you are the cause of your results. Stop externalizing blame.

3. Choice – Between stimulus and response, pause. Choose thoughts aligned with the results you want.

4. Action – Take small, consistent actions aligned with your empowering thoughts.

5. Reflection – At the end of each day, review: What results did I create? What causes set them in motion?

This framework shifts you from being reactive to being proactive, from victim to creator.

Real-World Examples

Example 1: Business Turnaround
A midsize retailer blamed slumping sales on “the economy.” After a diagnostic, they realized the true cause was outdated brand positioning and undertrained staff. By repositioning their message and retraining sales associates, revenue increased 27% in twelve months.

Example 2: Leadership Bottleneck
A tech founder constantly said, “I can’t delegate because no one else will do it right.” This belief created bottlenecks and burnout. Through coaching, he reframed: “I will become the leader who develops people to do it right.” Within six months, he scaled operations and reduced his stress dramatically.

Example 3: Personal Advancement
A mid-level manager blamed “office politics” for her stalled career. In truth, she hadn’t pursued the certifications her company valued. Once she took responsibility, invested in herself, and communicated her growth, she earned a promotion within half a year.

These examples prove that once you shift the cause, the effect must follow.

Reflection Questions for Growth-Minded Leaders

1. What current results in your business or life feel “unfair” or “out of your control”? What cause could you own?

2. Which recurring thought patterns are creating the results you least desire?

3. What “because” story are you telling yourself that needs to be reframed?

4. How would your leadership shift if you fully embraced that you are a causative being?

Action Steps to Harness the Law

• Audit your “becauses.” Write them down and reframe each one.

• Pause before reacting. When triggered, create space and choose your response.

• Start small. Pick one area: health, business, relationships and deliberately change the cause. Track the effect.

• Teach your team. Share this principle and encourage them to own causes, not blame conditions.

• Reflect weekly. Ask: What effects did we experience? What causes created them? What causes must we change?

   

Claiming Your Birthright

You are not a victim of circumstances. You are not subject to random fate. You are a causative being, created with the power to think, to choose, and to create.

Emerson was right: the law of cause and effect is the law of all laws. When you live by it, you step into your birthright: dominion over your mind, your choices, and your destiny.

Growth-minded leaders don’t wait for conditions to change they change the causes. And in doing so, they don’t just transform their own lives; they empower their teams, their businesses, and their communities.

The question for you today is simple: What will you choose to cause next?