100 Important Things You Can Control In Life

Feeling like you’re out of control can be scary, so having a sense of control is extremely important for many of us.

This is especially for you self-proclaimed ‘control freaks’ – yes, that would be me too.

It’s not that we want to control absolutely everything in life to be ‘controlling’ but we feel a sense of calm and safety when we have some semblance of control and certainty.

Having control can give us peace of mind that things are going well and we won’t have any unexpected stress coming our way.

So, let’s talk about things you can control in your life.

“Don’t worry about what you can’t control. Our focus and energy needs to be on the things we can control. Attitude, effort, focus- these are the things we can control…”
– Tim Tebow

100 Big Things You Can Control In Life

There are many ways to have control of your life, which is going to feel truly empowering if you have a tough time seeing what you have control over.

Sure, we can’t control everything, but here are the things you can control in life…

1. How You React To Others

We can’t control how others treat us, however, we can control how we react to others’ actions.

This is really important to remember especially if you have toxic people in your life.

You can’t change others, but you have full control over how you respond.

You can choose… not to respond, how to respond and whether you’ll allow people to

2. How You Treat Your Body

We only have one body and this body is the vessel that allows us to experience this life we have. So, let’s all practice being kind to ourselves.

This means prioritizing your physical health.

Having a healthy diet – choosing to snack from a bowl of fruit vs. chocolate and sugar
Keeping our bodies strong with strength training
Being active on a daily basis
Going to the doctor
Looking after injuries and health conditions

3. How You Support Your Mental Health

Deciding how you get through a hard time or a difficult situation is all down to you.

You can avoid your feelings or what’s happening to you, or find support systems to deal with painful emotions.

This might be:

Talking to a friend
Getting professional help from a doctor or therapist
Tracking your mood to help you identify your triggers
Practicing self-love and self-care

4. Your Thoughts & Inner Voice

Listen to that inner voice in your mind. It’s constantly talking – so take a listen.

Is this voice critical, mean, and negative? Or is it kind, supportive, and motivational?

If it’s that mean girl voice, you can make a conscious choice to turn those self-deprecating thoughts into more positive self-talk.

5. Your Personal Schedule (your free time)

I say personal schedule, as there are obviously competing schedules such as family priorities and work.

But when you do have time to yourself, you get to decide what to do with this time.

You can:

Take time to relax
Do something you love
Learn a new skill
See a friend

The choice is yours to make.

6. How You React To Change

There are two ways to react to change…

With fear and focusing on the negatives of that change
With optimism and looking at the new opportunities the change presents

Choosing the optimistic route can be hard work, especially if it’s something that impacts your happiness, and that’s okay. Take the time to grieve – this is important.

Major changes can be seen in all areas of life including career, relationships, finances, health, etc.

Choosing to see positive changes even if they are hard to find at first is a great way to support your overall happiness.

7. How and What You Communicate

You can decide what you communicate and how you go about it.

Whether you want to share all the nitty-gritty details of a tough situation or not share anything at all.

You get to decide.

8. What You Say Yes and No To

Remember, what you say no to impacts what you can say yes to in life.

People-pleasers – listen up! It’s not possible to say yes to everything.

You must say no at times so you can say yes to your own needs.

The simple act of saying no will take some practice, but that’s what you have to start with – practicing saying no.

👉 Get some tips here on how to get started.

9. How You Express and Focus on Gratitude

Regardless of your circumstances, you can choose to have an attitude of gratitude by actively seeking out things to be grateful for on a daily basis.

First, it’s important that you look for things every day to be grateful for – from your great-tasting coffee in the morning to the way your partner kisses you, to the chat with your neighbour.

Next, take time to express your gratitude to people who make your life easier.

👉 Try this 30-Day Gratitude Challenge to get in the true spirit of gratitude.

10. Your Goals For The Future

No one can control what you choose to create goals for in your life – accept you.

This is a powerful thing as how your future unravels has a large part to do with the goals you set and follow through on.

So go ahead and create goals for all areas of your life.

👉 Here is a big list of life goals to give you inspiration.

90 More Things You Can Control On A Daily Basis

Let’s get even more specific with things you can control in life.

11. Daily priorities

12. How much time you spend on social media

13. Your body language

14. The friends you spend time with

15. Living in the present moment

16. Getting enough sleep

17. How much you drink

18. Having a positive attitude

19. Your personal boundaries

20. Creating positive self-talk to reduce negative thoughts

21. How you spend money

22. Work-life balance

23. How you practice self-love

24. Getting organized at home

25. The clutter in your home

26. Improving productivity at work

27. The type of partner and friend you are

28. Your daily habits and forming new habits

29. Making better decisions

30. How much junk food you eat or don’t eat

31. Making healthier choices when it comes to food

32. Focusing on a growth mindset

33. Incorporating self-care into your daily routine

34. How you celebrate yourself

35. Being intentional every day

36. Your hobbies and interests

37. What you write in your journal

38. Focusing on ways to simplify your life

39. Taking deep breaths to reduce stress

40. Your personal hygiene

41. Your personal style

42. How affectionate you are

43. Your creative outlets

44. The music you listen to

45. Being a glass-half-full person

46. How available you are to others

47. Your morning routine

48. Your bedtime routine

49. Letting go of things that aren’t serving you

50. How you express your emotions

51. Asking for help

52. Self-compassion

53. Empathy to others

54. Learning new things and gaining new skills

55. Who you love

56. Your beliefs

57. Limiting consumption of bad news and negative articles

58. Being polite to others

59. Your attitude

60. Who you follow on social media

61. Saving money

62. Working on your confidence

63. Doing what makes you happy

64. Creating time for people who matter to you – including yourself

65. Accepting yourself fully

66. Being a good mom or dad

67. Adding fun to your life

68. Appreciating the little things in life

69. How often you smile

70. How you care for others

71. Practicing mindfulness

72. Spending time in nature

73. How you decorate your home

74. The values to teach your kids

75. What you commit to – events, activities

76. How environmentally friendly you are

77. Who you vote for

78. Doing good deeds and small acts of kindness to others

79. How you react to negative emotions

80. Focusing on good news vs bad news

81. How you approach problem solving

82. Adding more joy to your daily life

83. What to do on a day off

84. How often you pray

85. How often you meditate

86. Learning from other cultures

87. Bringing more meaning to your life

88. How many material possessions you own

89. When to look for a new job

90. How you prepare for things – i.e. work projects, events, meetings

91. Your expectations of others

92. Your daily intentions

93. Whether you binge-watch TV or not

94. What you spend time on

95. Your commitment to the important things in life

96. Spiritual practices

97. The books you read

98. Your hairstyle

99. Who you call

100. Your bad habits

Things To Keep In Mind

You Can’t Control Everything & That’s Okay

Once you embrace this, you’ll be able to focus on what you can control.

So, do your best to let go of control in areas that are not possible and instead focus on where you do have control.

You Can’t Control Specific Outcomes

However, you can control how to react to these outcomes.

For example:

You can’t control a job interview outcome – but you can control how you prepare for that job interview and how you’re planning your job search.

Perspective Is Everything

Do your best to start focusing on what you can control in life rather than things you have less control over. This is important

“Incredible change happens in your life when you decide to take control of what you do have power over instead of craving control over what you don’t.”
– Steve Maraboli

Next Steps

First step – write your own list of things you can control in life.

When you feel a lack of control in your life, I encourage you to make your own list of things you can control in life.

Step two – consider how you use this information.

You have a choice to dwell on things you can’t control or look at the abundance of things you can control.

Step three – write a list of things you can’t control and why.

This is important so you can acknowledge these external factors.

Share 3 things you can control in life today

I’d love to hear about your specific examples in the comments section below!

Related Resources :

About Yolanda

Website Owner / Content Creator

I’m passionate about helping you live life to the fullest so you can choose to find happiness and purpose. Learn how to CREATE THE LIFE YOU LOVE with intentional living and discovery of the simple things life has to offer. Learn more…