Focusing On The Things You Can Control
It sometimes seems like life is a series of uncontrollable situations and circumstances. There are so many things you want to achieve and learn about but there are also an equal number of obstacles that stop you from making progress.
Instead of focusing on the things outside of your control, like the more qualified person who walked into the interview right after you, it’s important to focus on the things fully in your control.
What you think of yourself and your abilities
Do you feel strongly that you are a capable, worthy person? If you think your perception about yourself is irrelevant and that your achievements and experiences can speak for you, you would be sorely mistaken.
People make determinations about each other in less than a second. Others will get a strong idea about how you feel about yourself well before you remember to paste on a smile and make sure your shoulders are squared. But more important than that, how you feel about yourself will determine how much effort you are willing to put into your life. Whether you are willing to work on your own projects in your spare hours. If you’re willing to put yourself in uncomfortable or difficult situations to learn something new or meet the people you need to meet. Whether you believe you are actually worthy of the success you tell yourself you’re striving after.
If you don’t think highly of yourself you need to figure out why. Are you lacking in some skills? If so what can you do to change it? Improving yourself and your situation are things you can control.
Face your fears
Just about all of us are afraid of something. Maybe it’s crowds or public speaking. Maybe you’re afraid of heights. Maybe you’re afraid of owning up to your mistakes. We may not be able to control our fears, but we do not have to be completely thwarted by them. It’s impossible to deal with an unknown. To deal with your fears you have to acknowledge and know them. If you are afraid of public speaking, start by giving a speech to a few friends. Next time, double the number of people you’re speaking to. You are stronger than your fears. If you stand up to them, they will eventually back down from you.
Always admit your mistakes. Once you face up to them and admit them, you can put them behind you and move forward.
Set your goals higher than you believe you can achieve
If you want to start running a mile, set yourself a goal of running five. On the way to the five a single mile seems easy in comparison. Don’t make your goals impossible to achieve, but do make them challenging. Give yourself reasons to strive harder.
Work your willpower muscle
Setting goals is easy. Following through and achieving them is another matter. Achieving a goal might mean getting up earlier in the morning. It might mean forgoing the snacks you love, it might doing things when you simply don’t feel like doing them. The more you flex your willpower muscle the stronger it will get. You are in control.
Work beyond what is expected
Everyone knows how much work they have to do to get by, but if you want to get noticed or if you want to improve your own sense of self worth, then go ahead and push harder than you have to. Do more than you’re being paid to do. When you’re deciding how much effort to put into things, remember this is an investment in your future.