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Taking Control: Aligning Your Energy with Your Influence

Abang Edwin Syarif Agustin
3 min readMay 17, 2024
Photo by Tengyart on Unsplash

One of the keys to a satisfying and empowered life is understanding the difference between what you can control and what lies outside your sphere of influence. While you can’t control every circumstance, you can control how you respond. Focusing your energy on the aspects of life within your power cultivates a sense of agency and resilience.

The Wisdom of Accepting the Uncontrollable

As the Serenity Prayer states, “Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.” Much of life is outside our personal control — the behavior of others, natural disasters, political upheaval, and so on. Becoming preoccupied with or railing against these unchangeable realities is unproductive and can breed frustration, anxiety, and a sense of helplessness.

Viktor Frankl’s memoir Man’s Search for Meaning illustrates how even in the direst circumstances of World War II concentration camps, one could maintain control over their mindset and internal beliefs. As he stated, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances.”

Taking Responsibility for Your Sphere of Influence

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Abang Edwin Syarif Agustin
Abang Edwin Syarif Agustin

Written by Abang Edwin Syarif Agustin

Observer, Content Creator, Blogger (Obviously), Ghostwriter, Design Thinker, Trainer and also Lecturer for Product Design Dept at Podomoro University

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