1241. Managing Reactions: The Key to Control | What We Can

You can’t control how work goes, but we can control our reaction 

Not controlling what they say, but controlling what we think , how we respond 

Not if the dog barks, just us training them 

What about if we lose a limb? Nope, can only control how we move forward

If traffic is bumper to bumper and we’re running late? Should’ve left earlier. 

Or if someone keeps invading our personal space, set up better boundaries, step back, speak up – control what you can

If someone is messy, how do we respond? We can freak out, or lead by example and gently remind them that we clean up after ourselves (while we are in the act of cleaning up)

“You idiot, why do you leave it like a mess every time? What are you stupid?” vs “At the end of the day I really just want to get home, but I realized if I take 5 minutes to clean up, I end up leaving in a better mood and it goes a long way for the team” Difference eh? 

Can’t control if we get sick, but we can control how much water we take in

Not able to control the weather, be we can get our workout in 

What about how the game turns out? Like a boxing match or a football game, we can’t control the outcome or how the refs act, but we can control our effort, how much we train, how intense we play, how in the moment we are 

Can we control how our mind is racing? Maybe some people, I know I can’t, but we can control practicing stillness within ourselves through yoga or meditation, being where our feet are – quieting our minds, not silencing them.

We can’t control if we’ll become financial free or not – it won’t happen overnight anyway – but we can control disciplined saving and simple living to eventually lead us towards that financial freedom goal 

If our kid gets in trouble – how do we respond? Freaking out? Understanding them? Asking them questions, why did they do it or if they’re okay… 

Explaining how we used to smoke weed or drink too and what they did was wrong, why it was wrong, and what they can do next time so they don’t fall prey to temptation or whatever it was 

There’s really not much we can control besides our mind, perspective, and how we respond to situations.