(Read Time: 2 minutes)

Everyone can be a bit of a control freak sometimes. I know that I can be.  

The thing is, the need to always be in control can lead to both boredom and anxiety.

It goes like this… you have the feeling that you need to control every aspect of life, and when things don’t work out exactly as you planned, you’re overwhelmed by anxiety.  

So you end up playing it safe and doing things that you’re familiar with.

Does this ease your anxiety? Yes. At least in the short term.

Do you often regret passing up opportunities that you missed because of this?  

Also yes.

It’s important to be able to control certain aspects of our lives. But when control gets… well, out of control, it can limit your ability to grow and discover and try new things. Control becomes a prison of your own making. 

The solution? Make it a point to switch things up a bit. To let go and do something spontaneous, do the thing that scares you, something that stretches you and makes you feel out of your element.   

Not being willing to take risks can hold you back from a lot of things in life you would have otherwise enjoyed and grown from.  

Will it always work out? No. 

But we have the opportunity to discover and learn as much or more from failure as we do from success. 

We are not in a process of discovery when we simply do the same things correctly over and over again.  

The truth is, “keeping it safe” and trying to control everything will eventually lead to being in a rut and feeling stressed out.

Mindfully making the choice to take calculated risks and stretch yourself keeps you in a state of growth, keeps things interesting, and ultimately helps settle the mind and reduce anxiety born of fear by proving that you can let go of control and things will still turn out and be OK, or even much better than OK.

Today, what actions can you take toward letting go of control, confronting your fear, and trying something new?