Are you a captain or passenger in life?

There are only two kinds of people on earth. Those who make things happen or let things happen. Most of the human population belong to the second category. What about you? Are you in control of your life or drifting along blown about by the circumstances you find yourself in? George Bernard Shaw said. “I look for the circumstances I want in life and if I can’t find them, I make them.” That is the attitude of true winners in life.

If you wait for the circumstances to be perfect, they never will be perfect for getting on with something. 

You just have to grab whatever you have and make the best of it. We often hear amazing stories of people who achieved great things despite the odds. They did not sit around and whine about how unlucky they were. You can find such inspiring stories in the lives of people like Abraham Lincoln, Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi, Oprah Winfrey and so many more. Reading about how they rose about the difficulties they faced can give us the inspiration, but the most important thing is taking action. 

One important lesson we can all learn from the lives of such remarkable humans is that we are not stuck in the way we are. Our past does not equal our future. On the other hand, there are countless millions who were in better circumstances who did not achieve anything worthwhile. 

What is the difference?

It all begins with the mind. The human mind is the only thing that determines how we view what goes on around us and choose to respond. If you see a situation as hopeless and give up, you will be like the majority of people who are waiting for someone to bail them out. If on decide to take control of your own life and be the captain, then things will change for the better. 

The question then becomes, how do you take control of your minds? You start with an awareness that you don’t have to be a victim but can be a master of circumstances. 

We become the sum total of our thoughts. Whatever you focus on becomes reality. Think positive thoughts and you materialize positive results. Keep your mind on negative and pessimistic thoughts and that is what will manifest in your life. The best way to ensure you set your mind in the right direction is to expose yourself to positive material. You could read motivation books, articles, or watch YouTube videos of inspiration. Another important key is to associate with only positive people. It would be better to be in close contact with people who uplift you and discuss positive ideas. Avoid those who only talk about gloom and doom. They will pull you down like a sinker. They are rightly called energy-suckers because you will feel drained after talking to them. 

Next thing is to find a good enough reason to get out of the comfort zone and go after a worthwhile goal. Most people who set goals never reach them. You very likely would have had such experience and might think, why bother. The main reason the people do not achieve what they set out to do is because they don’t have a strong compelling reason to do it. They set goals based on the spur of the moment without much thought about why it’s important. According to Dr. Maxwell Maltz, the plastic surgeon turned bestselling author, the mind is a goal-seeking mechanism. It will direct the body to take actions based on what is needed or important. The fuel for this is emotion. If you have set a goal and have a deeply emotional reason for achieving it, most likely you will go after it relentlessly. 

Do not wait for inspiration for you to change your life. Start where you are by filling your mind with positive thoughts and finding a compelling reason to achieve greatness and you will be on your way!