{"id":31897,"date":"2021-04-12T10:59:32","date_gmt":"2021-04-12T14:59:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=31897"},"modified":"2021-04-18T13:11:03","modified_gmt":"2021-04-18T17:11:03","slug":"focus-on-what-you-can-control","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/focus-on-what-you-can-control\/","title":{"rendered":"Focus on What You Can Control, Accept What You Can’t"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What do you do when things don’t go your way? Do you ruminate about the what-ifs or do you focus on what you can control<\/a>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When life throws curveballs, many people get stuck in the dysfunctional patterns of thinking, ruminating about what happened, and imagining what would be if things turned out differently. But focusing on the things you can’t change wastes your energy and demoralizes the spirit. Instead, accept what is and focus on what you can control<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is how to reorient your thinking to focus on what you can control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Focus on What You Can Control<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a 2,000-year-old Stoic phrase: \u201cWhat is up to us, what is not up to us,\u201d which means you must understand what\u2019s within your power to change and what isn\u2019t, and focus on what you can control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance, you can\u2019t control the economy, weather, disasters, or other people\u2019s feelings and actions<\/a>. But you can<\/em> control your own attitude, emotions, judgments, and responses. You control how you see and respond to obstacles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pitcher Tommy John<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Baseball pitcher Tommy John played for a remarkable 26 seasons in the majors. The key to his success was focusing every effort on what he could control and not being distracted by anything else. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n