Who's Steering Your Ship?
Regardless of how much you may think that you run your own life and call all of the shots, unless and until you are really intentionally taking control of your destiny the trajectory of your life may be chaotic and directionless. Taking control does not mean that you have to wrestle with the forces of nature by taking control with some sort of superhuman ability, however, because you can simply engage in the act of taking control by managing and organizing your life in a more conscious and efficient manner.
Rather than letting other people run your life – and instead of letting every adverse circumstance and unfortunate event throw you off balance – you can learn to assert your own will, your own influence, and your own progressive forward momentum for taking control of the outcome. You can, in essence, be more proactive and direct about exerting force to take control or grab the reins for your own benefit.
That starts when you first begin to realize and accept that you really do have the ability for taking control of many of the most influential aspects of your life. That’s true whether those are personal, work-related, or involve the idea of taking control of more intangible things like our long-term vision, our career goals, and our individual dreams or spiritual life.
Without a willingness for taking control and an effort to do so, you won’t just sit still, either, because nothing remains static. Everything is constantly changing and evolving in a state of flux so it is up to you to take the bull by the horns. Otherwise, instead of proactively taking control you are just passively relinquishing your power to someone else – and they may have their own best interest in mind, not yours. That can result in chaos as you are tossed around like a jellyfish in the ocean.
The process of intentionally taking control requires that you must know where you want to go. You can steer a ship for weeks – or drive your car until the wheels fall off – but unless you know where you are going you still aren’t going to reach your desired destination. Successful people navigate the sea of life – even if there are storms or sharks and rough waters to contend with – by taking control and exerting a determined attitude.
That includes knowing where they want to go and where they want to be a year from now, two years from now, or 10 years from now. Sit down and list your goals. Set deadlines and benchmarks for hitting your targets and taking control gradually. Before you know it you will discover that you have gotten farther than you even imaged you could – just by deciding that taking control is what you want and then stepping up to the plate to do it.
Maybe your goal or act of taking control is to lose 10 pounds, to earn an extra 10 grand, or to finally get your college degree. Others might define taking control as saving to buy a new car or taking a dream vacation to Europe. The point is that whatever you want to do to be more in control, you can. All you have to do is be focused, exercise some discipline, stay motivated, and have a clear roadmap and a concrete vision of your ultimate goal. Then go for it and see how easy it can be to become the architect of your destiny through the fundamental act of taking control of things.
