13 Ways to Take Charge of Your Life

We all want to feel like we’re in charge of our lives, having everything together. The unfortunate truth is that many of us struggle to take charge of our lives and feel like we’re lacking some control. This happens even more when we get around those who seem to have control of their lives with everything they need at their fingertips. We compare our messy insides with the picture perfect “instagram worthy” outsides of other people and find ourselves lacking.

Never fear; below are some simple and practical ways to help you get control and take charge of your life. Start slowly and build momentum and soon you’ll feel on top of things once again.

1) Be diligent in taking care of yourself

It’s crucial to make time in your week to devote to self-care. The busier you get, the harder it seems to be to make time for yourself and, unfortunately, that’s when you need it most. Make time to take care of your personal needs, whatever they may be. After all, if you’re not at your best how can you expect to do your best work. Taking charge of your schedule and your personal health is an important first step to take control of your life.

2) Do what you want, despite convention

A big part of taking charge in your life is putting an end to the bad habit of letting others have a say in what you do. Don’t disregard good advice but ultimately live a life that is yours.

3) Get organized

This step may seem a little different and trivial compared to the others but getting organized is an important part of taking control of your life. Being organized can help to lessen your stress and anxiety, keep you in command of your schedule, and make your life easier overall.

4) Remember the power of “no”

While it’s important to be open to new experiences and opportunities, it’s more important to know your limitations. You can’t do everything, and no one can expect you to. You have to prioritize and say no to some things to keep your sanity. The decision of what to say no to should be left entirely up to you, allowing you to take charge in your life.

James Althucher wrote a fabulous book about the Power of No which you can check out on Amazon.

5) Be open to new opportunities

It’s easy to let saying no get out of hand and become closed off to new opportunities, experiences, and adventures. If a new opportunity comes your way, weigh it out. Consider the following: is it good for you; is it something you want to do or a stepping stone to something you want? If you answered yes to either of those questions, don’t let the opportunity slip through your fingers.

6) Admit when you’re wrong and own your mistakes

For some, this is the most difficult challenge to overcome in their lives. Admitting you’re wrong can be extremely hard, but necessary in order to learn and grow from our mistakes and move on. In order to take responsibility for your actions and take charge of yourself, you must first admit you are wrong; this will lead to repentance, forgiveness, and redemption with the friend or loved one you hurt.

While similar to admitting when you’re wrong, owning your mistakes can be slightly more involved. Owning your mistakes involves admitting to them, accepting responsibility for and the consequences of your actions, and using every opportunity it’s brought to the forefront as another opportunity to learn from your mistake and remember the error, so you don’t make it again.

7) Make a goal list

Making a goal list is a good way to take charge of your future. It’s most effective when you parse your goals into multiple, reachable goal lists. This will help ensure you actually achieve your goals rather than just making the list and setting it aside. Be sure to measure your progress as you go, so you know where you stand. Some folks like the twist on goal lists to make a “By the time I’m [X age]” list.

For example, common things found on “By the time I’m 65” lists are retirement and traveling more frequently. These lists can help you keep track of what you want and ensure that you’re getting the most out of your life and taking charge of it.

8) Strive to empower and be empowered by others

One way to truly take charge of your life and ensure you’re headed in the right direction is to both be an example to others and learn things from others. It’s important to learn from those around you and allow them to inspire and empower you. It’s also important to strive to empower others and to be the best example you can be.

9) Stop settling

If you’ve been wasting your time settling for things you don’t really want, you’ll wind up wasting your life on adequacy. While in certain cases, settling is excusable or even acceptable, you can’t settle with everything in your life. A big part of taking charge of your life is getting rid of or turning down things you either don’t want or are detrimental to you.

10) Love, accept and forgive yourself

The only way in which you’ll ever take charge of your life is if you accept yourself for who you are, accept what you want in life, and treat yourself with love and kindness. Accept and appreciate the things you want in life, because if you don’t, who will.

You can carry the lessons you learn from your mistakes with you without having to carry the guilt. It’s important to allow yourself the freedom of forgiveness; besides, it’s unhealthy to hold a grudge, especially one against yourself.

11) Monitor yourself

One of the easiest ways to take charge of yourself, be responsible for your actions, and strengthen your self-control is to monitor yourself on a regular basis. Think before you speak or act and decide whether what you’re saying will be helpful or hurtful and if it’s necessary.

Analyze your actions at the end of the day; determine if there’s something for which you should hold yourself accountable and if there’s anything you should learn from to improve in the future.

12) Strive to be better

One of the most important ways in which you can take charge of yourself is to always make improvements. Strive to be better, learn from your mistakes, and implement changes to improve yourself, your self-control, and your personal responsibility.

13) Know your limitations

An important part to any effort is to know your limitations. Limitations do not make achieving your goals impossible, but rather, they make them puzzling. While some limitations can keep you from achieving particular goals, there’s often a way around our limitations that we can find if we try and get creative. This is most pertinent to taking charge of yourself and your life in the way that it will help you identify the areas of this effort that are the most challenging to you.