doug smith training

The problem with trying to control someone is the inevitable rebellion that it sparks. Go for influence, not control. -- doug smith 

  Quality of thinking is the core of control. Control your thoughts and you can control your words. Control your words and you can control your actions. Control your actions and you can control your results. It all starts with the quality of your thinking. -- doug smith

Managing what we control is important, even as what we control is less than what we'd like it to be. But, since our thoughts are on the list of what we control, why not control our thoughts in ways that manage our actions, our words, and our emotions? Hope is a choice. We can think about hope in ways that are empowering. Not as some magic formula. More like a guiding direction. We can choose "I have hope for the future" and  "I have hope for the team" We can have hope for the resilience to figure out just enough to keep moving positively. Our hope is less in control and more in responsiveness. We hope knowing that whatever happens, we'll respond. And by exercising the control that we do have, we are much more likely to respond positively. At least,  that's how I feel this morning! -- doug smith  

I've been told that I sometimes overthink things. How about you? The trouble with overthinking is, when are you done? Sometimes we have to think about what we're thinking to stop thinking so much. Think about that. -- doug smith

Who likes change? At one time or another (and probably MOST of the time) we resist change. It's causing us to do something differently and that is an effort we probably did not ask for. If it's not your idea, change is an aggravation. I don't like it when my phone decides to upgrade. Every single new release for the past two years has been worse, not better than the previous one. And yet, I have no control over it other than to switch to another phone that will likely offer the same aggravation. My current choice is to get over it and move on. If I control something, I make the changes that I want (most of the time.) New car? That's up to me. New coffee cup? Ditto. New client? That's in an area of influence, but not control. That's why the flow chart I've created. Do you control it? Then do that. Can you influence the change? Then get busy and build more influence. If you cannot control OR influence a change you still have two choice. You can...