There’s one idea I keep coming back to, in business and in life: change is in your hands. It sounds simple. It isn’t always easy.
We all have things we’d like to be different. The job that’s quietly wearing us down. The relationship that isn’t quite working. The business that’s stalled. Or that vague, nagging sense that life should be heading somewhere else.
And very often, when we talk about those things, we talk about everyone and everything except ourselves. The boss. The economy. The family. The timing.
Some things really are out of our hands
Let’s be honest about that. Sometimes circumstances genuinely are beyond our control, and pretending otherwise isn’t responsibility — it’s just another way of beating ourselves up.
But in almost every situation I’ve seen in fifty-odd years of working with people, there’s still something within our control. How we respond. What we’re willing to accept. What we learn. The decision we make next.
Responsibility isn’t blame. It’s noticing where you still have a say — and having the nerve to use it.
Why I call it the Me Factor
Because the hardest part is usually the “me” bit. It’s admitting that the thing standing in my way might be… me. My habits. My assumptions. My comfort zone, which is very comfortable indeed, thank you.
I’ve made plenty of mistakes. I’ve had regrets, changed direction, and taken risks that didn’t always pay off. And that’s OK. The past has happened, and none of us can rewrite it.
But every one of us gets to decide what we do next.
A small question for this week
Think of one thing you’d like to be different. Not the whole of your life — just one thing. Then ask yourself: what part of this is genuinely mine to influence?
Start there. It’s usually bigger than you think.
