Md Consulting

Control what you can control: Fighting battles you can win

The right way to feel in control is to focus on what you can change within yourself or your environment, and start taking small steps in the right direction.

You can save yourself a lot of stress by recognizing which battles you can win, and which ones you should let go.

This simple framework below will help you instantly distinguish the difference between what you can control and what you can’t.

When you take control of everything within your influence and let go of the rest, you’ll make your life a whole lot easier. 

In this way, you can take full accountability for your life without creating any extra stress.

Your mindset has a big impact on your chances of success. Changing the limited thinking holding you back from growth is something you can control. 

In her book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Professor of Psychology at Stanford Carol S. Dweck studied two mindsets:

Fixed Mindset: People with a fixed mindset believe they are born with a fixed level of talent and intelligence. They tend to avoid challenges and situations in which they might fail.

Growth Mindset: People with a growth mindset believe they have unlimited potential: they can accomplish anything through hard work, persistence, and effort.

Clearly, having a growth mindset can set you up for success. Your circumstances are things you can’t control, but you can change your attitude. 

Focus on an outlook of growth as much as possible: through hard work and an open mind, you can accomplish your dreams and overcome challenges. 

Learning how to control your thoughtsmeans learning to handle your response. You can do that by shifting from a place of reaction to a place of response.

Reaction: Taking action impulsively based on your emotions without thinking first.

Responding: Taking a moment to process how you think or feel before responding.

While you can’t always control how much free time you have, you can control how you spend it.

How you spend your downtime can have a big impact on your life. According to Inc, here are a few ways successful people spend their free time and why:

• Exercise has many benefits for both physical and mental health.
• Reading maintains healthy cognition, builds vocabulary, and teaches you new ideas.
• Taking classes builds your resume so you can qualify for greater opportunities.
• Volunteering puts life in perspective, gives back to your community, and develops a sense of purpose in life.
• Networking creates new personal and professional opportunities and helps stay connected.
• Spending time with friends and family builds a support network and provides connection.
• Hobbies foster creativity and keep your mind sharp.