Stop Blaming. Start Choosing. Why Viktor Frankl’s Message Still Matters in 2025
Almost every week, I crack open a new book—something on self-development, psychology, the Enneagram, even business or finance—and without fail, there he is:
Dr. Viktor Frankl.
Sometimes it’s just a quote. Sometimes it’s an entire chapter. But more often than not, he’s the heart of the whole thing.
And what blows my mind isn’t just that Frankl is still being quoted—it’s where he’s being quoted.
You’ll find him in corporate leadership manuals, spiritual devotionals, memoirs, coaching platforms, even investment books. His story—surviving Auschwitz. His field—psychiatry. His most famous book—Man’s Search for Meaning. His legacy—Logotherapy. His influence—everywhere.
And here’s the wild part:
Viktor Frankl may be more relevant now than during his lifetime.
We Are Not Victims—We Are Choosers
Frankl’s core message—the one I preach to my clients, my friends, my community, and myself—is this:
“The last of the human freedoms is to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances—to choose one’s own way.”
Let that sink in.
It doesn’t matter what happens to you.
What matters is how you respond.
And more than that—which way you walk forward.
You don’t need permission.
You don’t need approval.
You don’t need ideal circumstances, or a better economy, or a different political party.
You just need to choose your own way.
But here’s the truth too many people don’t want to hear:
We’ve traded in that freedom for comfort.
We’ve outsourced our choices to everything but ourselves.
I hear it daily:
“It’s the new president’s fault.”
“No, it’s the last president.”
“It’s capitalism.”
“It’s socialism.”
“It’s Congress.”
“It’s the media.”
“It’s where I was born.”
“It’s my parents.”
“It’s my trauma.”
“It’s my personality type.”
No.
It’s you.
It’s always been you.
And it will only ever be you.
Own All of It
Take responsibility—not for some of it, but for all of it.
Yes, all of it.
Stop blaming politicians, parties, or bureaucrats.
Stop blaming the environment, the economy, the algorithms.
Stop blaming white men in the past, people of color in the present, or whoever the scapegoat of the moment is.
Stop blaming your job.
Stop blaming your bank account.
Stop blaming your family.
Stop blaming God.
Stop blaming.
Stop running.
Stop cowering.
Stop hiding.
You don’t need someone to rescue you.
Because the one who rescues you… is you.
Frankl didn’t survive Auschwitz by blaming the Nazis—though he had every right to.
He didn’t survive by pretending the pain didn’t exist.
He survived because he refused to let the world define his way forward.
They could take everything—his home, his family, his freedom—
but they could not take his ability to choose his own way.
“The last of the human freedoms is to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances—to choose one’s own way.”
And that’s the whole thing, right there.
That’s the line in the sand.
No one and nothing gets to decide your way.
Not your environment.
Not your upbringing.
Not your paycheck, your passport, your personality type.
Not your trauma.
Not your pain.
Not the system, the party, or the story you’ve been handed.
Only you.
You Always Have a Choice
We live in the safest, freest, most opportunity-rich time in history—
yet more people feel powerless, hopeless, and stuck than ever before.
Why?
Because we’ve confused freedom with ease.
And the moment life gets uncomfortable, we act like we’ve been robbed.
But no one can rob you of your way—unless you give it away.
Discomfort is not oppression.
Hardship is not victimhood.
Challenge is not injustice.
Life is hard.
But you are not helpless.
You are not stuck.
You are not a victim.
You are a chooser.
You get to choose how you see your situation.
You get to choose how you respond to what life throws at you.
You get to choose your path—not once, not sometimes, but every single day.
This Wasn’t Just for Then—It’s for You
Frankl didn’t write those words for prisoners of war.
He wrote them for you.
For 2025.
For a world drowning in despair, distraction, and disempowerment.
He wrote them to remind you:
You are not a victim.
You are a chooser.
You are a creator.
You are free—right here, right now.
So act like it.
Live like it.
Love like it.
Lead like it.
Stop being a victim.
Choose your own way—and be a Viktor.
Every. Damn. Time.