Taking Control of Your Life and Future: From Drifting to Purpose

You control your destiny. This is something I’ve learned firsthand in my life and throughout my career. Without an active focus on your vision for the future, you will drift, allowing the circumstances of life to dictate where you go. That is not a recipe for success. 

Our greatest power is choice. When we choose to make the decisions that align with who we want to be and the way we want to live, we move from drifting into purpose, taking control of our lives and future. 

What does being a drifter mean?

In Outwitting the Devil, Napoleon Hill talks about drifting and the seven principles you can use to break free from the drifter mindset, to consciously take control of your life.

He shares that drifters don’t have a bigger plan or something specific they are working toward. Instead, they react to life’s circumstances as they happen. The drifter mindset is characterized by accepting what is, rather than being intentional and taking steps to make it better. Their lives lack focused goals and a bigger vision. Because of it, they are:

• Emotionally reactive
• Lacking in self-confidence
• Swayed by other people’s opinions
• Unmotivated
• Feeling lost
• Purposeless

98% of the people in the world live this way. The other 2% have the secret that helps them avoid the cost of drifting. 

What is the cost of drifting?

In short, the cost of drifting is fewer opportunities and unfulfilled potential. That has a detrimental effect on all the areas of your life. 

Financially, the drifter mindset leads to increased debt with impulse buying and the kind of purchases that build bad debt, which triggers the cycle of living paycheck to paycheck.

To break free, you must be more intentional with your money by creating a spending plan and taking steps to improve your financial literacy. That will help you reduce your debt and make smart investments to increase the number of income streams you have, building toward financial freedom.

In your personal life, drifting can cause relationship issues, a lack of fulfillment and stunted personal growth, all of which can make you feel out of control, overwhelmed and/or burned out. 

To get past the hypnotic rhythm that keeps you feeling stuck in an unfulfilling comfort zone, you need to figure out what is meaningful to you. Take the time to:

• Discover your values
• Define non-negotiable standards
• Uncover limiting beliefs 
• Determine energy drainers and energy lifters
• Spend time with people who have a clear purpose

From there, you can create a bigger life vision and the goals that you need to achieve to make that vision a reality, which will give you greater purpose and direction. 

When it comes to your career, drifting limits your potential—drastically! Rather than actively pursuing raises, promotions, new clients, a new job, and new opportunities, the drifter mindset tricks you into thinking that what you have is good enough. Or, you might have an inner critic that tells you that you don’t deserve more or that what you want is out of reach. 

In reality, it’s your brain’s way of conserving energy resources. Its job is to keep you safe. Any time you do something new, it can’t predict the outcome, so it has to work harder. That is why the negative voice in your head gets louder when you try to make changes. Your brain is trying to save energy by getting you back into the drifter mindset and your comfort zone. 

To get more in all the areas of your life, you must become aware of the drift, and learn how to break free, so you can take control of your life and future.

How do you break free of drifting and build a mindset for success?

Above, we talked about the first step for breaking free of the drifter mindset—you must become aware that you are drifting. That is the start of building a mindset for success because once you are aware you can then use your power of choice to stop drifting and become focused.

• Next, to become truly intentional, try setting up a morning routine that helps you become purposeful in your day. It can be simple things like:

• Choosing a word to make a theme for your day
• Deciding on one thing you will accomplish before the end of the day
• Journaling for 5 minutes to reflect on your priorities
• Saying a positive affirmation out loud
• Listening to a favorite song that lifts your mood and gets you started on a high note

• In the bigger picture, you need to develop your long-term vision to get truly focused. If that is something that feels overwhelming right now, focus on the next one to three months instead. Decide on one thing you want to accomplish during that time. Maybe something that will help you improve your life, your mindset or your hard or soft skills. 

Once you have made your decision, start at the end goal and work your way backward to where you are now to create your action plan. List each of the steps you will have to take to make your vision a reality. Try to be as detailed as possible, so you don’t miss a step, which can cause you to procrastinate and fall back into drifting. 

For example, if one of your steps is finding a mentor, you might have to do research, decide on the kind of mentor you need, create a short list of the candidates in that field, make a final decision, email or call them and set up your first appointment. The more granular you are the easier it will be to establish your tasks and goals. 

• Then when you have your action plan, set SMART goals to achieve each of the steps you have outlined. SMART goals are meaningful goals that give you greater accountability, so you will be more likely to stay focused, moving from drifting to purpose. 

After that, it’s a matter of following the same steps again with something else you want to achieve…and keep doing it! This is how you become fully in control of your destiny, building success and living a life filled with purpose. 

Remember, knowledge is power when you use it! This is your call to action to take control of your life and future! To make sure you don’t fall back into a drifter mindset, it’s good to know the ways it can happen and what triggers it. 

In Outwitting the Devil, Napoleon Hill identifies the greatest obstacles we face in reaching our personal goals—including fear, procrastination, anger, and jealousy—which can trigger drifting. He also gives the seven principles that will help us triumph over each one to reach the success we desire. This book is a rich resource that will help you take control of your life and future.

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