When you want to take control of your life, you must make your own choices. Those who take control are willing to own their choices. They know that each time they take control of their choices, they will learn something new whether it is good or bad. When you don’t take control of your life, you push your choices onto others and then blame them for the outcome when it is bad. If, however, the outcome is good, they are the ones that are quick to take all the credit for a good decision.
What happens when you take control?
I have another friend that has gone through a lot of hardships. He has lost his job multiple times due to layoffs, been rejected in relationships, and not been able to find a good job that met his qualifications. He has even struggled to make ends meet. Overall, he has many reasons to complain. He could blame his situation on everyone else for their behavior and what they have done to him, but he has a different approach. He is always positive and regularly looks inward to figure out what he needs to do differently. He constantly seeks opportunities to do more and be better. He has the attitude that he will not let himself settle for what he thinks he can earn by taking control of his life. With this attitude, he is gradually finding success, but it has come as a result of his hard work and dedication. He has taken control of his life.
What happens when you don’t take control?
I have a friend that is a chronic complainer. He has been blessed with many material possessions compared to most, but every chance he gets he complains about someone or something. “That person isn’t nice enough.” “I am underprivileged because I don’t have the nicest new thing.” “It’s not fair that I ONLY have this and everyone else has that, especially with the amount of work I put in. It’s not fair!” “It’s not my fault that this is happening to me, it is the boss’s fault.” “I would be more successful if that person didn’t put that road block in my way.” The list of his comments and negativity goes on and on. He never takes any of the blame for his situation because it is always the fault of something or someone else. He did not take control of his life because he has given his control to others.
You can probably find many differences between these two people, but I want to focus on two key differences that are at the root of their decisions. The first man took complete control of his life. He learned a long time ago that he could either wait for his life to happen or take control of his choices and make his life into what he wanted. He decided to take control of his life. The second man did not take control of his life. He gave the control of his life to others.
When you are not proactive, it is very easy to sit back and wait for others to make the first move. When you make a habit of waiting for others to make decisions for you, you begin reacting to what they do and you don’t take control of your life.
Take Control = Happiness
When you take control of your life it leads to greater happiness. You may not always have the desired outcome of your choices, but you will find opportunities to learn and grow regularly. That growth will help you as you take control of your life. You can also take control by learning from others. You can learn from the mistakes and successes of others.
When you take control of your life and make your own choices, sometimes everything will go right while other times everything will fall apart. When you take control of your own choices, you are able to own them with confidence. When you succeed, you will find a greater sense of accomplishment. You will know that your success was a result of your choices and decisions. When you fail, however, you will also know that it was a direct result of your choices. You will have no one else to blame but yourself. Failure can be a powerful tool if you let it be. As you fail, you can see what didn’t work as planned and figure out what needs to be done to improve. Failure will give you insight into what you should do differently.
You Can Take Control
Anyone that wants to take control of his/her own life can have the power from within to do so. When I graduated from high school, I set a goal to graduate from college with straight A’s. I knew it would take a lot of hard work, dedication, and self-discipline, but the outcome would be very worth it. When I was in high school, I was never the smartest person and academics didn’t come easy to me at all, so this goal was quite lofty to say the least. I knew, however, that if I took control of my life and my choices I would be successful in accomplishing my goal. While in college, I spent many nights studying until late. I even spent many Saturdays studying while everyone else was out having fun. Looking back, I realize that I didn’t go to all the parties like everyone else, but I took control of my life and got good grades. I ended up with a 3.7 which is an A- average. It wasn’t quite the 4.0 that I wanted, but I knew I had earned that GPA through a lot of hard work and dedication that resulted from taking control of my own life.
How do you take control of your life? What are you doing to take control of your life? How are your choices helping you take control of your life? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below!
Hi Brandon,
In protest against the discrimination which was and is an inherent part of my life in Sweden I in 1999 in one specific issue began a hunger strike (I know very Irish) it lasted 19 days. After losing 12 KG in weight I stopped weighing myself a heart murmur began showing very visible sings especially when resting and at one time in particular my heart seemed to bang forcefully at my ribcage. While I lay there I thought this is what it is like to die and I was at peace with myself. That contentment and great full feeling for my work and life in Sweden has never left. Later Samuel my son found me unconscious and great fully the hunger strike finished with an ambulance ride. The protest gave positive results quickly followed by intense discrimination which has multiplied through the years.
Discrimination, Art, ADHD, manic depression, leadership and religion are all wonderful parts of my life I have learned to love the possibilities and insights each and the combination which marry well in the artist. An autodidact and dyslexic with no formal education all of this and more went calmly through my mind as I walked back and forward first forgetting my reading glasses and then to realize the wrong glasses with my beautiful big toe in my left hand to ring an ambulance. I was calm and collected when I finally reached emergency services, so calm I wasn’t believed by the operator. We talked for 19 seconds and the connection broke thinking she would call back I contemplated for one millie second of waiting and immediately began ringing again. Five or six more attempts reached her again and she wondered if it was me who had called before and the comedy of convincing her of the accident continued.
I wouldn’t say I am in control but I know how to control my life.
Welcome William!
Thank you for reading this post and sharing you thoughts. You make a great point that you can do all you want to control your life and you can still have curveballs come your way. I can only imagine having all the challenges in my life that you have experienced in your. I imagine that through all your challenges you have learned a lot about yourself and life in general.
Although you can’t control your life, you do just as you did and control your response to your circumstances. You have complete control over your response and the actions you take.
Thank you again for sharing your thoughts and insight.