It’s never too late to take back control.
Life has a way of leading us down “rabbit trails”. We begin all kinds of things: relationships, projects, businesses, and even ways of thinking. After the start, begins the process. Everyone loves the starting line and the air horn blowing at the beginning of race. There is hope, excitement and encouragement. In fact, there is so much feeling in the start, we see the fulfillment of the dream before we ever leave the gate.
Hope is necessary, however, it is not a strategy. It takes work, a lot of work. We rely on our feelings to carry us through the process. Several years ago, I was attending a conference and heard the quote, “work from discipline, not emotion”. At the time, it was a quote I wrote down in my journal. Now, it has become a daily affirmation as I work the process. Success is hidden in the daily process, the ordinary and messy details of life. How can we avoid the rabbit trails as we are working the process? One word: PLAN
Mary Kay Ash said, “plan your work, work your plan”. Every minute spent in planning will save an hour in execution. Inviting our head to join our heart in the plan is an important step in the process. The plan keeps us grounded and focused on the fulfillment of the goal. Although our plans will need to be tweaked (I did not say change), having a plan to follow is magical in our quest to become more. There are many days when my best laid plans don’t go as I intend. When that happens, how we respond is the KEY to continuing the process. This is when I lean on my affirmation “work from discipline, not emotion”. It is our emotions that leads us down those “rabbit trails” and before we know it we have lost our focus.
It is never too late to take back control.
The most important thing we have the ability to control is our thought life. It is through the discipline of our responses that allows the process to continue. When faced with an obstacle, it is in the first 5 seconds that we choose discipline or emotion. It takes a lifetime to learn the process. Success is a journey, not a destination. When you feel like you have done all you can do, it is now time to become more. And, that is how you take back control . . . until next Friday.
