The average American spends around 7.5 hours a day on their phones communicating and consuming media. Everyday we wake up and have what feels like the world at our fingertips-but at what cost?

Studies find that 95% of the news stories today are negative in their nature. Now, before I go any further, being informed is important, and understanding what is going on in the world allows you to adapt with the times. But without boundaries and intention, those negative headlines can start to bleed into our everyday lives in the form of stress or misdirection. 

So how do we maintain our empathy with all of the horrible things going on in the world while managing the overwhelming nature of all of it?

We learn to identify the things we can do something about as well as the things that are out of our control. Through discerning what is within our capabilities and what is outside of our reach we are able to free ourselves from the burden of feeling responsible for everything going on in the world.

Author of “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”, Stephen Covey, developed a system of thinking that helps people identify and understand what he calls their Circle of Influence and Circle of Concern. Let’s look a little deeper into what these are and how they can help you in your career and life.

The Circle of Concern

Your Circle of Concern is comprised of the things that are worrisome, yet entirely out of your control. These are the things that you can’t do anything about yet live in your mind and take up space clouding your vision. All of those negative headlines you read that impact you typically fall into this category. The events happening around the world, economy, the environment, or government affairs. Don’t be fooled though, your Circle of Concern can also be filled with topics that are closer to your personally, the only qualifying factor in it is that the problem is not something you can fix right now by yourself. This can include the health of a family member, a difficult neighbor, or even supply chain problems effecting your company.

The Circle of Influence

Your Circle of Influence is identified as the things you can actively do something about at any given moment. These are the things you can begin doing at any point to combat your concerns and create positive change in your life. Through identifying your circle of influence you are empowering yourself to combat your concerns through acting on what you can do rather than dwelling on what you can’t.  You can’t solve all of the worlds problems, but you can change your own life in order to combat them. For example, if you’re concerned about the economy, you can start today with choosing to support small businesses, bolster your savings, and work towards making your company adaptable in these shifting times.

The idea is that your circle of influence lies inside of your circle of concern and as time goes on, proactive people will see their circle of concern shrink as their circle of influence grows. Those who live in a reactive mindset will struggle to keep their circle of influence from being swallowed up in their circle of concern as a result of their tendency to focus on what is wrong rather than what they can do on their own.

Start with your circle of concern and write down the things that are overwhelming you, but don’t focus too much attention on it-that’s not the point! Once you identify what your concerns are you can turn inward and identify your circle of influence through creating actionable solutions that are in your control. 

Don’t allow what you can’t control in life to convince you that you are powerless. It’s about recognizing the power you do have instead of lamenting over the power you don’t. 

There is a quote from author Max Lucado that I feel perfectly encapsulates this mindset, “Not everyone can do everything, but everyone can do something.” You are not powerless unless you let yourself believe you are. 

So I challenge you to be proactive in your life and mindset and allow yourself to take responsibility for the life you are living. And I implore you to release yourself from the anxiety of the things that are out of your control.

In doing so your mind is free to focus on the here and now.

Lead Well,