Expand your Circle of Influence

The phrase ‘to be proactive’ is used fairly commonly every day, particularly in a business context. However, being proactive is more than simply taking initiative. It means taking responsibility for our decisions, our lives and what we do – or don’t – achieve.

Responsibility is the ability to respond to a situation, circumstance, project, task or issue. Highly proactive people recognise that responsibility and act on it. They don’t blame others, circumstances or anything else for how they behave and what they achieve.

As well as enabling us to choose our response to particular circumstances, this empowers us to create circumstances. Taking initiative means recognizing our responsibility to make things happen.

Increasing our Circle of Influence and decreasing our Circle of Concern can help us with this. This exercise is adapted from Steven Covey’s highly-acclaimed book, “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.”

Your Fired Up Action:

• Draw a large circle on a piece of paper – if using A4, make the circle as wide as the paper. Then draw a slightly smaller circle in the middle of the large one.
• Identify an issue/situation/task/project which you are currently struggling to move forward on. Write this at the top of the sheet.
• The outer Circle is your Circle of Conce . In this outer circle, write down all things that concern (frustrate/irritate/anger) you about this situation. This is often where we leave our thinking – considering all the things which are negative, or which concern us. This actually prevents us from taking action and regaining control of the situation!
• So now it’s time to focus on the inner circle – your Circle of Influence. In this circle, write down everything you can do, which would positively impact the situation, however small.
• When you’ve exhausted all your ideas, go back to the areas you’ve put on the outer circle. Find at least 3 things which you have named as a concern, which you have at least some influence over. Identify the action to take and write this down within your Circle of Influence – the inner circle.
• Notice all the things you actually have control and influence over within this situation.
• Now take action on the things you have the power to influence!