Last week, we started our series on discussing discounting vs. reciprocity. This week, with Election Day upon us, I can already feel the anxiety trying to creep in, so I want to redirect this week's article toward a gentle reminder—both for myself and for you.  We will revisit discounting vs. reciprocity next week.  

The election results? Out of our control. The economy, which often feels unpredictable, especially during an election year? Also out of our control.  Even a natural disaster.  Out of our control.  

As Charles R. Swindoll wisely said, “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.”

So, what do we actually have control over?

What We Can Control:

- Our Boundaries

- Our Thoughts and Actions

- The Goals We Set

- Where We Focus Our Energy

- How We Speak to Ourselves

- How We Handle Challenges

As we move through today, the coming month, and the end of the year, what does this mean for us in our roles and our businesses? It means we can choose how we respond to what happens around us. Whatever might come, let’s make the conscious choice to live a better story.

What Can We Influence?

In *The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People*, Stephen Covey emphasizes the power of focusing on what we can influence:

- Seek to Understand: Practice empathy by listening without interrupting, keeping an open mind, and suspending judgment until you fully understand the other person’s viewpoint. 

- Win-Win: Aim for outcomes that are positive for everyone involved.

- Synergy: Synergy, Covey reminds us, is the highest expression of the other habits combined. When we work together with openness and respect, the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts.

At the end of the day, none of us can predict the election results or the economy's next moves. But we can decide how we will respond, and we can choose to leave every situation a little better than we found it.

Even when the future feels uncertain, we can lean on Viktor Frankl’s powerful wisdom:

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”  

 ― Viktor E. Frankl, *Man’s Search for Meaning*

So, today, let’s step into our freedom.