Control and inputs

A client I was coaching recently came off a two-day conference buzzing with confidence. A week later at work they were feeling flat again.

They’re the same person with the same skills. So what’s the issue? In this situation, it was due to the feeling of control (or lack thereof).

Control gives us the feeling that we can control our outcomes. Unfortunately, we can only truly control our inputs.

The outcomes aren’t always yours, the inputs almost always are. What you show up with, how you engage, whether you speak up in the debate, whether you take the meeting instead of skip it — these are the inputs you control, even when you can’t control where it lands.