Take Control of Your Life and Own Happiness

Are you in control of your life or is life controlling you? I realized that for most of my life, life was in control of me. Thus, I had to take back control of my life.

Dev Chandra, Founder of The Process Hacker.

I was unorganized, and my life was messy. I lost things, missed commitments, and forgot to pay rent (late fees suck) from time to time. I said yes to everything – every text, phone call, game, activity, and party. I wanted to make everyone happy regardless if I didn’t want to go, was sleep-deprived, or was around toxic people.

Saying yes regularly resulted in periodically over-committing to too many people and things. I became stressed from being overwhelmed. Eventually, this cycle would crash, as I could not fulfill all of the commitments that I made. I was doing too much and not being intentional about the choices I made.

I Started to Take Back Control

A few years ago, I slowly started taking control of my life. I started reading a lot more than I have in years and fell in love with learning again. I focused on being present with others and have had many meaningful, thought-provoking, or action-oriented conversations with mentors, friends, and complete strangers.

I got organized at work and at home and began to learn the value of setting goals and timelines for achieving them. I made more time for myself and my family, which has helped me build a healthier relationship with both. My journey is far from over, but it’s been an incredible learning experience so far. Now I’m on a mission to help others start taking control

I have worked and am still working to clarify my long-term vision for my life, career, and business. Then, I create plans to take 10X action and achieve those goals. In the process, I have learned more about myself and focused on the things that really matter to me. And, I get to choose to spend with the people who really matter to me.

Taking Back Control of Your Life is Your Responsibility

This idea of focusing on oneself can be a selfish one. However, you need to be selfish in taking back control of your decisions and your life, as it is your responsibility.

Before take-off, flight attendants brief you to first put on your own oxygen mask before assisting others, in the event that the airplane cabin depressurizes and loses oxygen. It turns out, when you take responsibility for your air, you will stay alive. Thus, you can provide much better assistance to others that need help with their masks, so they can breathe too.

When you take ownership of your choices, you are taking back control. You are much more able to contribute to the lives of friends, family, coworkers, and others in your world.

Your Life will Always Be a Work in Progress

As of this post, my life is still a work in progress. And it will always be. There will always be days when life will be in control of me. But those days are few and far between. And these days, don’t even matter when I know that I am in control of my year.

I am always striving never to stop learning and improving, so I can work toward my vision and help others. As part of that vision, I started The Process Hacker. I want to help people like you take back control of their lives and businesses to achieve their long-term goals.

Ask Yourself: Are you living life on your terms? Are you going to take control of your life? Or are you just going through the motions?

Next Steps

If you have any further questions or need additional help, feel free to comment below or send me an email. Also, if you want more Process Hacker content, you should subscribe to our weekly newsletter on Productivity, Habits, and Resources.