If you let the words or actions of somebody else get a rise out of you, if you let a situation get the best of you, if you can’t control your emotions, you open up the door to be manipulated by others. Whether that’s allowing outside influences to “make” you angry, sad, or even happy, that’s giving away your power.
If someone knows how to push your buttons, they can control you to a certain degree. But if you are able to master your emotions, and to remain calm in the heat of battle, you can control your destiny.
“Finish each day and be done with it…tomorrow is a new day.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
At the end of the day, you might have some regrets about what you did or didn’t do or what you said or didn’t say, but you have to let it go.
You can’t change that anymore.
The best thing you can do is to move on. If you feel bad about something, apologize or do something to make it right – don’t dwell on things you can’t change.
“It’s a funny thing about life…once you begin to take note of the things you are grateful for, you begin to lose sight of the things that you lack.” – Germany Kent
Many of us live a life of over abundance. We are surrounded with a surplus of food and drink to keep us from feeling hunger, of toys and games to keep us from being bored, etc. But because we are constantly surrounded by more and more things (we can’t even get away from it on social media), our focus often shifts from being grateful for what we have to always comparing our lives to others and wanting more. If we focus on what we lack, we will never have enough. But if we focus on being grateful for what we have, envy, jealousy, and desire will have less control over us.
Worrying is like a rocking chair. It will give you something to do, but it won’t get you anywhere.
“Worry won’t get you to where you want to go. Action is the only way…”
To me, the only potential benefit to worrying is that it might help you think of ways that things might go sideways, allowing you to plan your next move ahead of it. But if you just get good at thinking of all the angles ahead of time, putting a contingency plan in place, and then still take action, you’ll be better off.
Where people get in trouble is when they let their worries, fears, and anxiety take over. When they overthink a situation, it’s almost like they’re in quicksand and can’t move. But if they realize that many of their worries will never actually come to fruition, they’ll be better off.
Another way to think about fear is this…what do I really fear about this situation? In a worst case scenario, what is going to happen? Maybe someone will tell you no or you’ll be embarrassed. Well, get used to it. All successful people have been told “no” a lot in their lives. All successful people have had to take a chance (and often fail) to get to where they are.
Worrying is like a rocking chair. It will give you something to do (there’s always something we can be worried about), but it doesn’t get you anywhere.
“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” – Theodore Roosevelt
If you want to achieve great things, the first thing you must do is believe…believe that you can do it! Because if you don’t really think it’s possible, you’ll subconsciously look for reasons why you can’t do it instead of finding ways to do it. You might have to think outside the box to get it. You might have to follow a path someone else has already cleared. But almost assuredly, if it’s a challenging goal, you’re likely to at least stumble along the way. This is why believing that you can do it AND believing that you’re strong enough to overcome any adversity that comes your way is so important. When you inevitability make a mistake, you’ll realize it’s not permanent, and you’ll find a way to move on and grow from it.
Believe in yourself. Make a plan. Take action. Re-evaluate as necessary. Persist through difficulty. And continue to make progress towards your goal(s) every day.
