Save the rest of your bandwidth for adapting and favorably responding to the uncontrollables.
“In life there are a lot more uncontrollables than there are controllables.
This is true for everybody.
The best in the world are not immune to uncontrollables, they are just fanatical about controlling the controllables, and controlling how they respond to the uncontrollables.”
-Ray Zingler on X
Each day we wake up, we walk into a life that harbors a vast amount of uncontrollables.
From the weather to potentially getting hit by a mack truck while walking the dog.
These uncontrollables hit us before the sun even comes up.
And then you get 16 more hours of uncontrollable potential.
And that’s just one day.
And guess what.. as we age the volume of uncontrollables increases. Go team!
This makes controlling the controllables paramount to “winning the day”.
For me personally, I create objectives that are controllable, that I can win every day.
My time with God – Controllable.
My nose in wisdom journals – Controllable.
My daily writing – Controllable.
My daily training – Controllable.
My intentional time with my family – Controllable.
You get the point.
The reason I am fanatical about controlling the above is because those are a few of the very few things I can control every single day.
Of course, the time, outputs, and quality may adjust on any given day, but in some capacity, I can “do” those things, consciously creating wins for myself.
Imagine if I screwed them up and chose to “lose” a controllable.
I didn’t do my writing.. I didn’t do my reading..
That lack of discipline would not only haunt me, it would condition me to believe that losing is okay.
And if I can’t win “the controllables” how the hell can I expect to win the “response to the uncontrollables” game, which again, are going to be far larger in volume in my daily life.
It’d be impossible.
I regularly talk with my team about controlling the controllables.
Can we be Social Media Wizards, manipulate the algorithm, and gain a massive following? That is obviously out of our hands.
Can we make the commitment to posting 3 times per week on social media to show that we are “alive”?
We absolutely can. Not only is that “controllable”, but it’s also very easy to do.
And if we can’t do it (choose not to do it) how can we expect to win in business that is littered with uncontrollables by nature, where heavily dynamic thinking and response is required.
It’d be impossible.
Control everything you can to a T.
Save the rest of your bandwidth for favorable responses to the uncontrollables.
