How many people do you know that complain about things they can’t control? Things like the weather, decisions by the government, the attitude of their boss, queues, traffic jams etc. So many people spend a great deal of time and energy complaining and focusing on things that they can’t control or influence and then wonder why they feel frustrated and tired.

Modern life is busy and demanding and we all have limited time, energy and mental capacity. Therefore it’s important that we dedicate our personal resources on focusing and dealing with things that we can control.

We can learn lots from the world of sport and a practice used by sports psychologists. They help top athletes and sports people to develop their performance by encouraging them to control the controllables. These are areas that can be controlled like diet, rest periods, fluid intake, exercise regime, pre- event preparation, visualisation, their thoughts and reactions to external events

In order to sharpen the focus and ensure that clients make best use of their time and energy, I encourage the individuals and teams that I work with to focus their attention on things within their control.

We do this by listing all the priorities, issues, challenges, worries, concerns and things on their mind both professionally and personally. We then make a list of things they can do something about and things that they can’t control and influence. We analyse where they are spending their time and decide what needs to change. We get clear on the issues they can’t do anything about. This process really helps prioritise and reduces feelings of overwhelm, frustration and helplessness. It provides a boast to motivation and energy levels and it brings a sense of calm and clarity.

As humans we like to feel in control of situations and by focusing on controlling the controllables it helps us to feel like we are having a greater impact and influence on our results, environments and direction in life.

A really good way to control the controllables when you are feeling overwhelmed, up against it, defeated and don’t know which way to turn is to ask yourself a simple powerful question “What can I do?” You will always come up with an answer and it may well spark other ideas and actions. It will get you into action and get you unstuck.

A welcome bi-product of focusing on things within your control is that over time it will help you to increase the amount of influence that you have in teams and your organisation. You will develop a reputation for completing your priorities with a quiet assurance and by not meddling in areas outside of your sphere of responsibility. This will help build people’s trust and confidence in you. It will also build your own sense of worth and self-confidence levels.

The approach can be used in conjunction with a strategy to train the brain to free up capacity to focus on life’s blessings rather than problems and notice abundance rather than lack and scarcity. It can also be aligned with choosing to be positive rather than negative in one’s attitude.

This week, why not take a few moments out to reflect on all that you have going on in life and what is occupying your mind. Then consider the following:

  • Clarify what you can control
  • Clarify what you can’t control
  • Determine how you can spend more time on areas within your control
  • Decide what things are outside of your control that you need to let go of

Some clients find listing the above on post it notes to be a great way to sort and clear their minds.

This week’s quotation:

“The less effort, the faster and more powerful you will be.” Bruce Lee

To arrange a free no obligation consultation, please contact Stephen Pauley via the contact form or by e mail: Stephen@befirstclass.co.uk