I used to worry A LOT.
I spent so much energy worrying about things outside of my control that I often felt helpless; and it got to a point where I started to suffer from depression.
A game changer for me was using the circles of control, popularized by author Steven Covey.
I reduced overwhelm, let go of anxiety, and self-empowered.
Imagine three concentric circles. Every worry you have is in the largest of the three. This is the circle of concern.
Some topics in this circle you can influence, for example relationships and personal health. These concerns move into the next smaller circle: the circle of influence.
We can’t fully control relationships, but we can influence them, so they stay in this circle. Personal health, however, moves into the third circle, the smallest of the three: the circle of control. It contains everything we have direct control over.
While there are health factors we can’t influence, like genes, we can strongly influence the likelihood of staying healthy. We control how much alcohol we consume, how healthy we eat, and how much we work out.
What’s also in our circle of control: our words, thoughts, responses, self-talk, the media we consume, and how we show up and treat others.
Empower yourself by focussing on your circles of control and influence.
Let go of anything that’s left in the circle of concern. For now, these things are not worth worrying about.
One way to self-empower is to take full control of the future of your business. The fastest way is to stack up your small wins and thereby making progress toward the vision you have for your business.
The vision is the desired state of your business in 2-3 years. From there, you derive the strategy that will get you there. Strategy empowers you to make the right decisions by fully focussing on what you want – and letting go of distractions and shiny objects.
Find out more about creating a winning business strategy.
Main picture by Sven Vahaja on Unsplash