One of the requirements for feeling happy is the belief that you have some control over your life. Feeling powerless excludes the possibility of feeling happy. Control is a critical part of emotional health. Everyone can relate to the frustration that occurs when negative events in your life are beyond your ability to influence.
There are certainly things in life that are beyond control. However, there are many things that you can control. These include your focus, attitude, beliefs, and actions. You can also largely control which people you allow to be part of your life.
Feeling powerless is a symptom that it’s time to make some changes:
- Put yourself first. When it feels like life is unmanageable, it’s time to put yourself first. You can’t exert your full influence on your life unless you make yourself and your life your priority. It’s time to pull back on all the help and attention you’ve been giving other people and focus on yourself.
- Choose a direction for your life. When you fail to make decisions, life eventually gets the best of you. The most important decision you can make is choosing an overall direction for your life. What are you focused on achieving over the next year to ten years? Progress is impossible without an objective.
- Focus on your strengths. Put your attention where it can be the most productive. Use your strengths to show yourself that you can influence your life.
- Let go of relationships that poison your life. Bad relationships can drain the fight right out of you. Good relationships make you more capable, not less. Evaluate all of your relationships and keep those that benefit you. Be willing to walk away from the relationships that prevent you from feeling powerful.
- Be willing to say “no” more often. If you’re feeling powerless, you’re spending too many of your resources on people and activities that don’t improve your life. Feeling powerful is the result of having influence over your life. You can only do that by focusing your resources on the things and people that are the most relevant.
- Grow a little each day. Spend time on yourself. Learn. Investigate your interests. Become a more capable person. In what ways do you need to grow to have power over your life?
- Focus on what you can control. One of the easiest ways to feel powerless is to attempt to influence things that are beyond your control. Want to feel powerless? Try to control the weather, other people, or the stock market. Make a list of all the things in your life you can control and master those things.
- Focus on your progress. A little progress is a powerful thing. It shows you that you can change your life. It provides hope and enthusiasm. Progress can give you the motivation you need to keep trying! Studies show that progress is important for overall happiness. Try it and see for yourself.
- Can you remember a time in your life when you felt like you had a lot of control over your life? When you remember that, how does it feel when compared to a time in your life when you felt powerless? A feeling of powerlessness can really take the wind out of your sails. Feeling powerless leads to feeling overwhelmed. It’s challenging to enjoy life when you’re overwhelmed.
Reclaim the power you have over your life. Your power wasn’t taken from you. You either relinquished it, or you forgot it. You can take control over your life as soon as you decide to.
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