We let our life be controlled by people who care so little about us. Isn’t that funny? Day in and day out, we spend time on pleasing others. Trying to please everyone can be overwhelming and it is something that is impossible. You cannot have green signal from everyone around you. Sometimes when you want to do things, you might end up disappointing or even pissing off people.

“Stop letting people who do so little for you control so much of your mind, feelings & emotions”
- Will Smith

Not everyone cares

Contrary to our belief that everyone is important, very few people actually care about you. You actions make zero difference in their life. But they portray as if the decisions you make are super important to them, but it almost never is. Because of the way they seem to care for your ideas, makes you fall into a trap thinking that you really matter to them. Remember, however close people are to you, including your family and friends, you are the only one living your life 100%. No one will be living it for you, so the experiences that you have and the goals you set are all for yourself. Yes they do influence your family and other close people, but that is a choice you make.

No one else can decide for you. No one else can set goals for you.

You have one chance at life

One chance. That’s it.

One chance at life

Keeping aside what religion might teach you, you have got only one life. Even if you are resurrected after death, it doesn’t make any difference as you will not be remembering anything from your past life. So it is as good as being born as someone else who has nothing to do with who you are.

Now if you think about it, you have 52 weeks in a year, ie 52 weekends. Let’s say you live for 75 years. Of which you might have already lived say 25 years. You are left with 50 years. In those 50, let’s say you are actively working for 30 more years. So that is 52 x 30 = 1560 weekends. 1560 weekends? That’s all?

1500 weekends is what you got.

Yes, that’s all. Now this should make you think where and how your time is being spent. There isn’t really much time and that’s why it is precious. In this one life, for you to make a difference, careful management of time is very important. Now, that being said, these number of days are also not confirmed. You never know how long you are going to live. So just do what you need to do. Today!

If you are sitting down thinking what others think and how others might feel, remember that you are trading the 1500 weekends you have with them, which you will never get back.

Say “No”

If you look back at life, there are many instances where you might be regretting not being able to say no to something or someone. Going forward in life means saying no to things that slow you down or prevent you from moving forward. This might be difficult at times, but again it is a choice to be made. Saying no does not mean being rude to people, it means politely declining.

Trying to say yes to everything drains your time and energy. Interruptions might come from family, friends, colleagues or complete strangers. Sometimes some of them are going to be offended when you say no to them. This is when you may try to make them understand what your goals are. Do this only if they matter to you that much. Else you can leave it up to them to understand. This is why you need to surround yourself with like minded people. People who understand your stance and who are having the same experiences that you are going through.

If you aren’t in charge of your life, how can anything work out in your life at all?