The coronavirus has taken over the world and the way we live, but is there any way we can take back some of that control?
Some of you might already be familiar with Stephen Covey’s model on Circle of Concern and Influence. For those that aren’t, the Circle of Concern includes a range of issues such as the economy, global warming, the behaviors and attitudes of the people around us, and so forth. These are all factors that are beyond our control, and any time and energy spent on these things will be wasted efforts. On the other hand, the Circle of Influence, which is usually much smaller, includes things that we can change and take ownership of. With this model, we are encouraged to focus our time and energy proactively on the things within our circle of influence to increase our personal effectiveness and allow our circle of concern to shrink.
The model is usually used in workshops to help people take stock of their lives and prioritize the issues they are dealing with and plot them into circles of concern and influence. This can then help them to increase their circle of influence by taking specific actions while minimizing their circle of concern.
While this is a great tool to help all of us to take control of our lives and energy, we are now in a circumstance where our circle of concern has grown exponentially with the coronavirus pandemic. This pandemic has brought the world to a standstill, and so much is now left unknown until a solution has been found to eradicate this virus. During this time, it might feel like there is very little we have influence over, as people lose their jobs or get salary cuts, schools have all moved to distance learning, and most families are confined to their homes. The world as we know it has changed and there are few signs that this will be over anytime soon. Reports suggest that this could be months or even a year before we can get any sense of normalcy back into our lives. And so, until that happens, we need to look at what we can do to ensure that our circle of concern does not eat away at us and bring us all to a state of mental suffering.
We have all undoubtedly lost some aspects of our lives that have previously brought us joy, comfort, and stability. While this will look different to each of us, we now need to ask ourselves what we can do within our current limitations to make life manageable. There is no straight answer, or a one size fits all approach, so we need to open our minds, and find what we can do that makes us momentarily happy and sane. And if we don’t find the answer right away, that’s also fine. This is a new situation for everyone, and we all have our ups and downs, so we have to tackle this one day at a time. What we can do is seize control of our circle of influence, no matter how small it appears right now. Visualize your circle of influence, and with a mighty pen in hand, regain control and manifest it into something positive and real that can carry you through this tumultuous ride into the unknown. And remember, we are in this together.
References:
https://dplearningzone.the-dp.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/06/Covey.pdf
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