Master What Matters: A Leader's Guide to Control in 2025

Looking back at my journey as we enter the Year of the Snake 2025, I want to share a personal story.

Three years ago, I was that person who tried to control everything. I worried about my colleague's opinions, my manager's thoughts, family expectations, market conditions, and even what strangers thought about me on social media. These thoughts consumed much of my time and energy.

Then something changed. During a particularly difficult project, where nothing went as planned, I learned an important lesson. My mentor noticed my stress and asked me a simple question: "How many of these problems can you actually solve right now?"

This question changed everything.

I started writing down my worries in two columns: "Things I Can Control" and "Things I Cannot Control." This simple exercise showed me that I was spending 80% of my energy on things I could not change.

Today, I want to share this wisdom with you on what I learned about control:

1. Words of others: We cannot control them but We can control our response.
2. Our starting position: We cannot control where we begin but We can control how much effort we give.
3. Expectations: We cannot control what others expect but We can control our own goals and standards.
4. Perceptions: We cannot control others' judgments but We can control our own growth path.
5. Challenges: We cannot control when they appear but We can control how we adapt and learn.
6. Requests: We cannot control what people ask of us but We can control our limits and priorities.
7. External actions: We cannot control what others do but We can control our own responses.
8. Time: We cannot control the past but We can control what we learn from it.
9. Future: We cannot control tomorrow's uncertainties but We can control today's actions.

Through this understanding, I found peace. Like the snake, which moves with purpose and precision, we must be wise about where we put our energy.

As we begin this Snake Year next week, I invite you to reflect: Where are you spending your energy? Are you focusing on what you can control?