“It is good to be king” is a line from History of the World, Part I a 1981 comedy film written, produced and directed by Mel Brooks. This catchphrase was used repeatedly to justify the king’s bad behavior and when he samples his luxurious lifestyle for the first time. As king or queen, they set the rules!
A king or queen is head of the monarchy. The dictionary says a monarchy is form of government in which supreme authority is vested in a single and usually hereditary figure, such as a king, and whose powers can vary from those of an absolute despot to those of a figurehead. How would you like to make the rules? Surprise, you have control of you! You control so much more than you realize!
Physical Condition
Starting with your physical being, you control what goes into your body. You control the amount of activity in your life. Some may say that there are things or people that prevent you from controlling your activity, but it is up to you. I wrote an article some time ago called “The Problem with Health Care is You”, taking responsibility for your health. Controlling your weight, participating in an exercise program and seeing your doctor periodically is your responsibility.
Mental Condition
Do you control your thinking? You need to fill your head with education, training and the necessary skills that help you accomplish the goals you find important. You determine those goals and can plan the success or chose to do nothing. Life is choices and your attitude, determination and tenacity will lead you to success or not. What is going on in your head? What are you doing to achieve your goals? If you don’t have the skills, get them!
Environment
Are you in the right environment for you to show your talent and skills? Are you succeeding? What do you need to be successful? What is your dream? Do you have the courage to identify your dream? What is your passion? It is the magic something that gets you up in the morning and happy to go to work! “Find a job you love and you’ll never work a day in your life” is attributed to Confucius. Finding something you are passionate about is easier said than done. Make a plan and hold yourself accountable!
Skills
Education is one way to acquire skills to get what you want, but it is not the only way. If I wanted to become a Chef, I could go to the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) or apprentice at various restaurants in the United States or Europe. Going to CIA would give me the training and skills to become an Executive Chef much faster. Being a Chef can be a very lucrative profession, there are lots of jobs and opportunities to have my own restaurant. Some may opt to apprentice because they do not have the funds to pay for formal training or need to support a family. Either choice is following your dream.
If your goals are more academic such as Physicist, Engineer or Doctor, you need a formal education. You will need to demonstrate academic skills that show you are ready to embark on one of these careers. In other words, you need good grades in subjects that show you have that ability to succeed. If you want to become a doctor, you should be good in physical and biological sciences. Do you want a doctor who only scored a C grade in school?
Find a career you are passionate about and you will be good at it. If you are good at it, you will earn a good living. What would you enjoy doing twenty hours a day, seven days a week? Is there something you do as a hobby, you could turn into a career? Spend the time researching your career, and then experience it. You can experience your choice by volunteering, interview people who perform your career or job shadow. Do you have the skills, interest and knowledge to be successful in your choice?
Final thoughts
Taking control of your life and future is the message. You have more control than you realize, it is all about the choices you make. Many people think they prepared themselves and take a job they do not enjoy and worst yet they stay in that career. Instead of following their dream or passion, they weigh themselves down with debt and other obligations. They lose sight of what is important and settle with what is available. Remember you have control over your life. It is good to be king or queen!
Photo by: aliwest44
I get stressed about things that are outside of my control and I know I need to work on this. Bad drivers or inconsiderate neighbors or things like that tend to irk me, and I know that’s not good for my mental health. I am actively trying to work on finding ways to just let things like that roll off and not get upset.
How easy we forget that much of what happens to us in life is solely dependent upon ourselves.
We certainly have more control over ourselves or at least how we react to situations.
I suggest to write down what about that particular situation triggers your response. This worked for me to reduce my impatience. Suddenly, you start to realize what bothers you about other people’s behavior.Now I can focus on what is important!
I agree! Your destiny is in your hand. If you keep working hard, you’ll achieve your goals.
I wouldn’t go to the CIA though. From what I heard, you’ll still have to start at the bottom and you’ll be saddle with a big student loan. You might as well start at the bottom with no debt by going to work right away.
My nephew wen to CIA, he started out a Sous Chef. He is now an Executive Chef in New York. BTW, his parent paid the tab! The training accelerates your career. This is true of education and training in general, there are no guarantees, but.it will accelerate you progress.
We only control our own actions and reactions – never other people’s.
Absolutely, too often you react to people or situations rather than handle the situation or people. Excuses just keep you from succeeding!
Awesome message. It is good to be king! Most of us, me included blame other things, people, or events for the situation. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is look in the mirror. Thanks King KC!
Our minds can trap us or set us free. We really do have a lot of power to control our destinies. It took me a while to realize that but I’m glad I finally did. I try to always look for the positive side of every situation and learn from my mistakes. It’s not always easy to do, but keeping a positive outlook is powerful and liberating. -Sydney
I love to have control–it makes me feel comfortable. But also giving up control to a higher power is a great feeling, and I am working on it!
Mental attitude is important, it is the difference between success and failure.
Since you have more control over yourself than you realize, you must take responsibility for your actions. Don’t let excuses (blaming others) keep you from reaching your goals.
Believing in yourself, keeping a positive attitude and ridding yourself of negative messages will help a lot. When you think you will succeed, you do all the appropriate things to succeed.
Some people call me a control freak, so I guess this post hits me well. I don’t think it is so much that I am bossy, just that I like things to be right and like to do all I can to ensure success.
As someone else who likes to take or remain in control, I do not see anything wrong with that. The outcome justifies it, if successful.
What an inspirational and encouraging post. Thanks Krant. I am an OCD control freak I think but I have been working on letting go for a quite a while now. I have realized certain things are not as important as I thought they were. I still have drive and vigour though which I feel is a good thing.
I like being in control of my future, but it is a waste of time to agonize over things you cannot control. Concentrate on what is important to you (set priorities) and let go of the rest at least temporarily.
We have the power to choose our attitude in different circumstances. That attitude we choose to have is up to us, and will go a long way in determing the quality of our life. Some things are truly out of our control, but many things can be acheived by taking control and being individually accountable for our own well being.
If you just control what you can you are probably 95% there. The rest does not matter
The key to being king is to fully accept the responsibility of being king. If we succeed, we are responsible. If we fail, we are still responsible. BUT…we can learn from that failure and move on. After all, it is good to be king.
I like being king, but (like Frugal Confessions), I also like being subservient to The King.
Holding yourself accountable is always good! Successful people take responsibility and correct the mistakes and move on.
Never settle fully is my motto. We definitely are in control of our own fate!
Why settle at all? It reminds of a saying which goes something like this “you are the captain of your own ship”. It is definitely up to you!