Mount Vernon High School

April 19, 2024 The Power of Your Influence Control what you can control. That’s valuable advice for anyone who wants to win in any important area of life, including you here today. That advice clarifies where you should focus both your energy and your attention, and it highlights - in this experience filled with variables you can’t control - what really matters most. It’s worth taking a minute to consider today, as part of your pursuit, what's controllable for you. Here's the short list. You control your attitude. You control your effort. You control your response to whatever it is you encounter today, and you control the way you treat the people around you. Identifying the controllables brings with it both an element of responsibility and an element of opportunity. On one hand, the burden of responsibility for making these choices is yours and yours alone. In each of these areas, no one gets to make these important decisions but you. At the same time, there's power and ownership in that opportunity you've been given to choose. There’s freedom in knowing that no matter the situation, no one gets to make these important decisions but you. Evaluating your commitment to the controllables might lead you to another question worth asking here today. What do you do with the uncontrollables? The harsh reality of your pursuit is that many important elements exist outside your control, and they can have a major impact on your experience. Think about that list for a second. Unfortunately, you have to accept that you can't control the choices other people make. You can't control many of the situations you are forced to encounter or the circumstances you are required to face. More often than not, you can't even control the outcome of this thing you’re after. Your very best in mindset and performance requires you to figure out how you'll approach these challenging areas of the experience. While identifying and embracing the controllables strengthens us, we have to be careful not to allow the weight of the uncontrollables to weaken us. It’s natural, and in many ways understandable, even, to feel victimized by all those things we can't control. And while there’s value in creating those two black and white categories - controllable and uncontrollable - there’s danger in it, too. That’s because whether we want to admit it or not, the choices other people make, the situations and circumstances we face, and the outcome we’re after are all really important! Focusing on the things you can control and accepting the things you can’t? That's easier said than done. So today, instead of focusing on one vs. the other, I want to focus on how your commitment to one influences the other. Influence is defined simply as "the ability to affect someone or something else." In the important areas of life and performance, you may not have control, but you do have influence. Recognizing and utilizing your influence is important because it diminishes that victim mentality and helps you leverage whatever power you possess. It allows you to accept that even when you don’t have control, how you show up has an impact, and what you choose to do makes a difference. Your effort and your attitude, your response to whatever it is you encounter today, and the way you treat people matters…maybe even more that you realize. No, you don’t get to control the choices other people make. You don’t get to control the situations you encounter or the circumstances you’re required to face, and you don’t get to control the outcome of this thing you’re after. But in those important areas, your choices have the ability to affect them all, sometimes dramatically! You shouldn't diminish the power of your influence. When you choose to show up today with a winning attitude and your best effort, when you own your response to whatever it is you encounter today, and when you take responsibility for treating people well, you aren’t just controlling the controllables. You are also influencing the uncontrollables, and in doing so putting yourself in the best position to earn the success you say you’re after. So don't allow the weight of what you can't control to weaken you. Instead, show up today committed to making an impact, and believe that what you do makes a difference. -Travis