Who Controls Your Life?

Good Morning Everyone,

I hope you enjoyed your weekend! Welcome to the first iteration of WHI&T. Thank you for joining the community. Your support means the world to me!

This week I'm reading "The Attributes" - a new book by former Navy SEAL Commander, Rich Diviney. I've reconstructed one thought I particularly enjoyed below.

Give the following exercise a try...

Sit comfortably with either a pen & paper, your phone, or laptop.

Spend the next one minute jotting down as many answers to the following prompt. The name of the game is QUANTITY over quality.

Prompt: How can I double my income?

REMEMBER - we are going for QUANTITY - the responses don't even need to be practical.

Start your one minute timer and begin.

... 15 seconds ...

... 30 seconds ...

... 45 seconds ...

TIME! 1 minute!

You now have a list in front of you. Maybe only a handful. Maybe a long list.

Hopefully, some are practical - a raise, side hustle, monetizing a weekend muse.

Others may be wishful - quitting to start the next tech giant, winning the lottery.

Insanity could be the only word to characterize some - for example, robbing a bank.

None of that matters for now! The purpose was quantity over quality in order to illustrate the immense power of our brains to immediately supply answers to problems.

We do this all day every day...

Questions like; "How can I double my income" might be useful to ask.

Unfortunately, more often than not, we don't pay any attention to the quality of our inquiries.

We allow toxic, distracting questions to flow through our stream of thoughts.

Why does stuff like this always happen to me?

Why can't I just get what I want?

Why am I so bad at this?

After the question is presented, our brains immediately attempt to answer - often at the subconscious level. Absent from our direct awareness.

But those answers seep into our day-to-day lives in the form of frustration and anxiety. The answers are guesses at best, but the impact is tangible.

Instead of focusing on what we cannot control (i.e. external factors), we can turn inward to be more accountable for what we can control.

What are ways that I can get better results?

How can I improve?

Who can I seek out to help me?

Rich provides the following guidance...

We can't control a complex environment, but we can control how we decide to act and react. Accountability prepares us to ask critically useful questions about performance, as opposed to less useful ones about what unseen or unpredictable forces are to blame.

Leaders who are accountable - in their actions, reactions, and thinking - inspire confidence and develop trust among those they lead.

Let's try this one more time...

Reset your timer for one minute. Resituate yourself so you're sitting comfortably. Grab your pen, paper, phone, or laptop.

Prompt: What can I do to make today a great day?

Spend the next minute writing down all the ways you can make today great. Remember, we are going for quantity over quality.

3... 2... 1... GO!

............................

Take your list with you today. Let it serve as a reminder to focus on what matters.

What you can control.

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That's it for this week, everyone.

I'm always focused on improving the quality of my content for your enjoyment.

Send me a message anytime @Whit Rasmussen I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Until next time - be well, be intentional, and be yourself!