Hi All,
Happy Friday! I hope you had another great workweek. As always, here’s your weekly dose of wisdom to keep you on track with your goals. If you want to provide feedback on the quality of my newsletter, you can always send me a message here.
1. “You will continue to suffer if you have an emotional reaction to everything that is said to you. True power is sitting back and observing things with logic. True power is restraint. If words control you that means everyone else can control you. Breathe and allow things to pass.” – Unknown
A conundrum of human nature is our lack of understanding of why we do the things we do. Looking at humans as emotional creatures solves much of the mystery.
The emotional parts of the brain are powerful and can dictate our behavior under certain circumstances. With training, however, you can get better at using your rational parts of the brain.
The next time you have an emotional reaction to something that is said to you, take a step back and reflect on the situation. Can you sit back and observe things with logic?
2. “Your self-worth is determined by you. You don’t have to depend on someone to tell you who you are.” – Beyoncé Knowles
Self-worth is a feeling that you are a good person who deserves to be treated with respect. An important step in building this sense is to understand yourself. You must learn who you are and what experiences shaped you.
Take pride in the things you do well and reflect on them. What are some of the challenges you’ve overcome? What abilities do you have? What are you really good at?
3. “When you concentrate on the things you can control, it won’t be up to luck or circumstance whether you do well in life.” – Mike van der Poel
Do you believe that your destiny is controlled by yourself or by external forces, such as luck or circumstance? If you attempt to control everything in life, and then get upset about the things that you are unable to control, you are setting yourself up for failure. This is something I discuss in greater depth in this week’s article, “The Remarkable Power of Changing Your Locus of Control”. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Until next week,
Mike van der Poel
Previous: Stay on Track: External Forces, Hard Work, and People Judging You — Oct. 8, 2021
Judgement is an external force you have no control over. You can’t always count on other people to treat you well, but it is up to you how you react. There …