In many areas of our lives, the idea of control is an illusion because it suggests that through enough training and discipline and focus, we’ll have the ability to restrain or direct or command anything that we want. It suggests that there is a place we can arrive at where we can regulate or influence every single outcome, if we get good enough at exerting control.

But we know from experience that that’s not possible because life is a mix of things we can influence and things that influence us. 

We’re “participants” in a very natural push and pull. 

The illusion of control sets us up for failure because there will always be something outside of our sphere of influence that impacts our reality and disrupts the illusion. 

Instead of control, we can shift to a mindset that’s focused on Active Participation. 

Active participation is the idea that you move through life with the ability to impress your innate influence upon things you can influence, and at the same time you are participating in and adapting to things that happen that you do not have the ability to influence.

In this episode, we discuss why being an active participant is such a powerful way to approach your day to day, and I’ll give you a few action steps you can use to start to flip from someone who’s focused on control to someone who’s looking for opportunities to actively participate instead.