If you’re wanting to be happier, to regain control of your life, you’ve got to quit adding to the junk pile.
The junk pile is the opposite of the real You.
And if you want more joy, more power, and more freedom, you need less junk and more You.
You figure out, of all the inputs in your life, what’s feeding the real You and what’s just adding junk to the junk pile.
Take inventory. Sort things out.
Think about how each input makes you feel.
Think about the result of that input in your life.
Think about where it’s coming from.
Then take steps to eliminate or minimize the inputs that add junk to the junk pile.
Tackle the big nasties first. Make a “top 5 junk inputs” list, and start work on getting those out of your life, or getting them closed into some tight, controlled, guarded boundaries. That’s your right. Nothing gets to come into your life without your permission.
Problem is, most of us were taught otherwise, so the concept that we can control inputs is a strange one. And the idea that it is perfectly reasonable and healthy to control what you let into your life? It’s practically alien.
Try it out.
It might feel strange at first, even wrong. Keep at it.