The Circle of Influence v The Circle of Concern

How do you view challenging

events as they unfold? Do they cause you stress, anxiety, sadness, concern? However, what can you actually do to influence them? That’s where reflecting on the circles of influence and concern , you can understand better what you can control which is key to giving you a different perspective on the situation.      

The concepts of Circles of Influence and Concern were brought to the world via Stephen Covey in his book the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. The two circles can be described as follows: 

• Circle of Concern comprise things we are concerned about but we have little or no control over as they are outside your influence, i.e. Covid-19, Global Warming, Election results.

• Circle of Influence comprises things that concern you that you can do something about, and to a certain extent control, i.e. exercise, reading etc

On the picture, the white circle is the Circle of Influence, and the blue circle is the Circle of Concern, and there are examples of the sort of things that would fall into each circle.  

Situations such as Covid -19 will predominantly sit in the Circle of Concern, i.e. the media reporting, how people are behaving, the disease spread itself. You feel concerned about these, but there is not much you can do to influence them. However, we can influence how we personally deal with the situation, and some of the ways of doing this are as follows:  

• Being mindful of your own social distancing, and not putting others in danger if you think you may be infected, essentially being responsible

• Think about what social media you share – confirm its validity beforehand, especially if it is something that may make people feel vulnerable

• Try to be a more calming influence with people, and keep yourself with a positive mindset. Be supportive of work colleagues, clients, friends and family

• Keep focussed on what you need to do both from a work perspective, as well as personally, so that you continue to deliver. You need to be resilient and focussed during times like these, and you can influence that, even if you can’t influence the external effect that something such as Covid 19 might have on your business.  

The two circles can contract or expand dependent on how you as an individual decides to focus and cope with the situation you are dealing with. If you take more personal responsibility to manage the situation that you can control yourself, you can expand that circle of influence, and with it, create more positivity around you i.e. I can say to myself “I can’t control the National Lockdown, but I can write some blogs for my clients to help them through this phase, as that may help some people”, and this expands my circle of influence, and makes me feel happier. In contrast, if I spend too much time worrying about the US Election Result, and what it means for the future of the country and its citizens i.e. civil unrest etc, my mind might go into panic mode, and expand that circle of concern such that I lose focus and use too much thinking time on that, rather than thinking about the things that matter to me more i.e. friends, family etc 

It’s useful to look at the Circle of Influence and the Circle of Concern if you are feeling particularly stressed, anxious or vulnerable about something that is outside of your control. If you overly focus on the elements within the Circle of Concern, this can lead to you potentially allowing what’s in that circle to control you, and dominate your thinking and your life. If you instead can focus on the elements within the Circle of Influence, you become more free and able to manage your own destiny more. We all have fears, concerns and anxieties, and that is OK, but understanding how to channel your time and focus better to help you navigate these situations really is key for you in the future. Good luck!