Reality Check: Here are 11 Things You Can’t Change, So Quit Wasting Your Time Trying

Life

You really can change the world if you care enough.” ~ Children’s rights activist Marian Wright Edelman

Is that all it takes — caring really, really hard? Or is it working 70 hours a week to the exclusion of all other activities? Or is it working smarter, not harder, that really instigates great change?

All of these have been recommended by someone at some point in time, but the fact is, there are some things you just can’t change, no matter how hard you try.

In fact, continuing to beat your head against the wall is… well, not very effective, and pretty painful. So cut it out, would you?
Perseverance and tenacity are only good qualities when the objective you’re working so hard to achieve is actually attainable. There’s a lot in life you just can’t change.

1. You’re accountable to someone.

Probably a lot of someones, depending on where you are in your life. It can be tempting to take shortcuts, bend the rules or stretch your ethical boundaries in the pursuit of what you think is the ideal outcome, but we all answer to someone at some point (that is, if answering to yourself isn’t scary enough).

2. You’re not going to live forever.

Even in the midst of all the crazy, remember to take care of yourself. We push ourselves SO HARD; we’re constantly “on,” always connected, skip vacation time, and more. Americans (and I’d argue especially entrepreneurs) are fantastic at working ourselves into the grave. You won’t enjoy your tomorrow if you were too hard on yourself today, so lighten up.

...[ Continue to next page ]