Is your focus on things you can control?

Do you spend most of your energy (physical and mental) on things that are not on your control? Let’s do an exercise.

Take a sheet of paper and a pen. Make two columns

1. For the first column, put the heading as “Things in control”. Write as many things that you think you have in control for the next couple of weeks. Eg :

   1. The online course you wanted to complete

   2. The article that you wanted to write on Medium

   3. The website that you wanted to launch

   4. Work on the startup idea you’ve been thinking for months

   5. Do some physical activity - yoga, stretches, dancing, or anything that brings you pleasure

   6. Cook something nice, paint that picture or sing out loud

2. For the second column, put the heading as “Things not in your control”. Now let’s see what goes into this. Eg :

   1. Will I get that job interview?

   2. Will I lose my job?

   3. Will I be able to meet my friends soon?

   4. What will happen to the world?

   5. When will this situation end?

   6. Or… any outcome of what you do… (Note: you always have control over the process!)

How does your table look like? Let’s take a deep breath now.

In the last 24 hours, how much time have you spent thinking about the things in control?

And… in the last 24 hours, how much time have you spent thinking about the things not in your control?

Unfortunately, it’s human nature to give more energy to things that are not in your control. But now that you’ve written it down (yes write it down - putting it in paper makes it tangible and real), you can control it.

These are tough times we are going through. Cutting of socializing is a big risk for our general well being. But that doesn’t mean you are forced to do wrong things. This is the right time to take that leap of faith and focus on things that are in your control. Focus on what you can do next week, focus on how healthier you can get, focus on how happier you can be even though change is disrupting your routine (which is something you made up in the first place)

“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”
― Leo Tolstoy

During my Online Catchup #3, we discussed this topic. Everyone wrote down their points and we took a few minutes to reflect on how we are wasting our energy on the wrong things. This was applicable even in a non-pandemic situation. Few shared me how their table looked, let’s take a look at one

Most had their inputs in the same line, and most were surprised that they were spending their 90% of energy on the second column. This might be something you already know in the back of your mind, but writing it down makes it real. What does yours look like? Would love to see more in the comments.

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek."

--Barack Obama