From time to time, virtually everyone is liable to find themselves in a position where they feel as though they’re not truly in control of the direction of their life, and don’t have their hands on the “steering wheel”, so to speak.
There are many different ways in which you might want to change course in your life. Maybe you find that you are actually deeply dissatisfied with your day job, and would love to make a professional change and to head in a different and more uplifting direction.
Or, maybe there are certain habits or default activities that you engage in on a regular basis, that seem to be ultimately self-undermining or self-destructive, that you would really like to break away from.
Finding ways to get more into the driver’s seat in your own life can be a very rewarding and uplifting thing, and can open up all sorts of different avenues of possibility that you hadn’t previously considered.
Here are a handful of tips for getting more into the driver’s seat in your own life.
Meet obstacles head-on, and systematically start dealing with things that you find frustrating in your life
First things first: perhaps one of the most significant things that you have to do when it comes to getting more into the driver’s seat in your own life, is to start directly noticing and addressing different sources of frustration that you have been failing to take action on.
While this is undoubtedly easier said than done, taking steps to begin systematically dealing with things that you find frustrating in your everyday life can help you to generate a lot of momentum, and can go a significant way towards establishing a sense of personal agency and balance.
If you have some kind of pest infestation on your property, for example, acknowledging this fact and contacting pest control professionals to resolve the issue can prove to be a deeply positive experience, and can help to move things back into proper alignment.
Bring your attention more to the present moment, and to the things you’re choosing to do in the here and now
Often, when people think about things like “getting into the driver’s seat” in their own lives, this will end up taking the form of quite elaborate goal setting, and a long-term focus that disregards the here and now in favour of a potential future scenario.
Ultimately, though, bringing your attention more to the present moment, and to the things that you’re choosing to do in the here and now, can be a much better way of helping to re-establish a sense of control of your life, in addition to an overall sense of balance and purpose.
The fact of the matter is that you only ever have the power to act in the present moment and to interact with what’s “in front of you,” so to speak. It’s all very well to have some idea of the direction you want to head in overtime, but many people end up becoming so wrapped up in plans for the future that they completely miss the adventure of their lives in the here and now.
Recognise that you won’t find all the answers in your own head, and get out and about and do things
In order to actually get back into the driver’s seat in your life, it’s important to realise and acknowledge the basic fact that you’ll never find all the answers to life’s questions in your own head. Instead, it’s necessary to actually get out and about and to do things regularly, in order to move your life forward, and to deepen your degree of insight.
Taking action has a way of bringing about change, and helping you to consistently shift the direction of your life, in order to get onto a more favourable track. But sitting around and ruminating over your issues and perceived issues all day, tends to be very unhelpful and to feed feelings of disempowerment.
Take time to check in with your own sense of meaning and purpose
As a general rule of thumb, the more you heed your own sense of meaning and purpose in life, and align yourself with that sense of meaning and purpose, the more empowered you will feel, and the more positive and worthwhile your life will feel.
Regaining a sense of control and agency in your life can have a lot to do with simply ensuring that you are checking in with your own sense of meaning and purpose on a regular basis.
