What do you control? Really? Spring follows Winter, Summer follows Spring, Fall follows Summer, and Winter follows Fall. It doesn’t change. Gravity isn’t going anywhere and as long as the earth remains seed-time and harvest is permanent.
You can’t control the seasons or how other people drive. You have no power over flight delays, stinky cabs, how your children act outside of you presence, or the outcome of your favorite team winning. I ask again, what do you control?
People can not control any of these things yet they let them ruin their lives. They give excuses on why they were late, missed their quotas, didn’t show up to their kids event, or why they couldn’t make the sell. Worse they always blame someone else. They resort to excuses to justify their mistakes. Of course you don’t so this right?
Everyday you have a choice to react or respond to your external influences. It’s a difference in taking 100% responsibility to what happens to you rather than resort to excuses. Your response will determine your outcome.
The Three Things You Control
Taking responsibility for 100% of your actions requires you to understand that you only control 3 things in your life:
1. The thoughts you think
2. The images you visualize
3. The actions you take (Your Behavior)
That’s it! You only have control over your thoughts, images, and actions. How you use those 3 things will determine your experience. If you don’t like what you are experiencing on a daily basis, you have to change your responses.
Your Thoughts
Stuck at a dead in job? Who fault is that? Who chose that job? Going through the same motions everyday will not change your situation. Will you wait for external forces to change your predicament i.e., like layoffs, demotions, pay cuts, or getting fired.
The fastest way to make your job better is to change your thoughts. Think about your job being a means to an exciting end. It’s not just paying your bills. It could fund your business start-up, pay off your debts, help pay for your children’s school, or anything that will bring enthusiasm to your work.
When I fell “in-like” with my job, my business began to grow. My job was my best source of wealth and it help me fund my business, become debt free, and provided the medical benefits to help me lose weight. Changing your thought is the fastest way to get a different response.
Your Images
I visualized myself quitting my job. Walking into my bosses office while I was on vacation and telling him Friday is my last day. Your thoughts lead to images in your mind. You control what you visualize. You are not a slave to your external circumstances. Accidents, mistakes, and just bad stuff happens. Your job is to visualize how to make it better.
Picture your day before it begins. Mentally rehearse it and then bring it in to reality. Faith and fear work on the same principles. With faith you think something good is going to happen and with fear you think something bad is going to happen. Spend time with faith instead of fear.
Your Actions
Your past actions have led you to this point. It’s that simple. What you do today will determine your tomorrow. You can’t change the past and it’s impossible to live in the future. You can only act now. Controlling your thoughts and images has influence on your actions. Without actions your thoughts are just fantasies.
Your dreams are where you want to go but action is what will get you there. If you hate that dead in job, you can quit, look for a better position, or bring enthusiasm to the work place. But you have to “Do” something.
You either create change with your thoughts, images, and actions or outside influences force you to change. No you can’t control the weather, accidents, government regulations, the latest tax changes, or who is in office. But your response is the key to victory. Again, what do you control? The answer is…
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