One of the things I’ve been talking to my students about recently is the difference between our circle of concern and our circle of influence.
This is one of the many great concepts from Stephen R. Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and details how we can stay proactive and effect positive change.
The Circle of Concern includes a wide range of concerns we might have, such as the state of the economy, racial inequality, COVID deaths, problems at work, the health of our family.
The Circle of Influence includes only those things that we can do something about, some of which may overlap with our circle of concern and some not.
While many things in our circle of concern may make us angry or upset, we’re able to be more effective agents of change if we focus our attention on our circle of influence.
Consuming less news is a good way to reduce the amount of your attention you place away from your circle of influence.
Covey says that proactive people focus on issues within their circle of influence. They work on things they can do something about and in this way they expand their circle of influence.
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