You Control The Narrative
There are only two things that are in your control. You control the amount of effort you put into accomplishing your goals and how you choose to react to any given situation when things don’t go according to your plan. You need to let go of everything beyond your control.
Worth Remembering - When you can’t control what’s happening, challenge yourself to control how you respond. That’s where your power is. - W. Dyer.
I got a speeding ticket the other day on my way home from delivering a training session. The Officer clocked me at 97 kilometres an hour in an 80-kilometre-per-hour zone. It must have been a slow day for him. Nonetheless, I had a choice to make. Do I give the Officer a hard time for being petty, or do I take my licks and let it go? Perhaps it comes with age, but I knew this was going to be a no-win for me, so I accepted my punishment without pushing back, agreed to pay the fine, and drove away.
Worth Remembering - A positive attitude gives you power over your circumstances rather than having your circumstances have power over you. - Covey.
You control the narrative. You and you alone are responsible for your own happiness. No one but you can make you choose the life you lead. It’s a matter of choice - your choice. At what point do you decide that things need to change because they are no longer serving you? As you look ahead to 2026, I leave you with one final thought from Charles Swindell.
The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think and do or say. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company, a church, a home. The remarkable thing is that we have a choice every day about the attitude we will embrace that day. We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string that we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10 percent of what happens to me and 90 percent of how I react to it. And so it is with you. We, and only we, are in charge of our attitude. - Charles Swindell.
Worth Remembering - Our attitude towards life determines life’s attitude towards us. - J. Mitchell.
Thank you for subscribing to my Let’s Get Focused Blog or my Confessions of a Reformed Control Freak Podcast. I wish you and your family all the best that 2026 has to offer. Remember - The differences aren’t resources - it’s your effort and your attitude. If you don’t like the picture, you have the power to change the channel. You control the narrative.
Copyright 2025. Brian Smith, Power Link Dynamics. Not to be reproduced without permission. Are you searching for a keynote speaker for your next event, or planning a training session at your location? Brian works with those who want to learn to communicate and interact more effectively, regardless of gender or generation. Brian will customize a presentation that is right for you, your team and your organization. Contact Brian to learn more.