Stepping into Your Circle of Influence

There are times when you feel lost in your holistic business - it's part of the merry-go-round journey of working for yourself. You feel like things are happening to and all around you, but you have no power in the situation. It's overwhelming and the stress will stop you from being effective in your life, or your business. If you feel like this, it's time to stop, breathe, and work out how best to move forward.

Have you read ‘The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’ by Stephen R Covey? I love the concept of the circles of influence which help you recognise the things that you can influence and control, and those that you can't – even though they impact you.

Instead, the idea is to focus on what you can influence – this is where you can make the most difference.

Your Circle of Influence

Imagine you have an inner circle which is your ‘circle of influence’. This circle contains everything that you have the power to influence or control directly including what you do, how you feel, your general health and wellbeing, your productivity, how you show up in the world, etc.

Your Circle of Concern

Now imagine you have an outer circle which is your ‘circle of concern’. These are the things that are outside of your circle of influence but include everything that concerns you. Examples of these could be the economy, family and friends, problems at work, time passing by, your competitors’ activities, or unrest in the world. Your only choice over these things is how you react to them, rather than being able to control or influence them directly.

When times are challenging, your focus can easily drift out to the circle of concern. You may want to try and fix everything that's wrong, and your time and energy are taken up worrying about things that you have limited ability to change. This is where you become reactive to things that are happening around you, and you end up feeling like a victim of circumstance.

Be Proactive

Instead of using your energy, and worrying about the things you can't change - proactively focus on the things that are inside your circle of influence. As your positive energy expands and magnifies, it causes your circle of influence to grow - like ripples in a pond. And with this, you'll become more resilient and able to weather any storms ahead.

Increasing Your Circle of Influence

The exercise below will help you identify where to focus your efforts to have the biggest positive impact on your business.

Step 1: Make a list of the issues, challenges, and problems you’re currently facing in your life and business. You’re one person so if you’re struggling outside of work, it will affect your business too. Don’t edit them, just allow yourself to download everything you can think of onto a page.

Step 2: Review the list and decide which items are within your ‘circle of influence’ and separate them from those that are in your ‘circle of concern’. You may notice that some things on your list don’t deserve to take up your headspace so now is the time to cross them out, or do what you need to do to let them go.

Step 3: Reflect on your vision and purpose for your life and business – why is it important you do what you do? This is your compass and will help to motivate you to focus on and do the work required.

Step 4: Consider where you are now in your life and business, and what resources you have available now - you have to start from where you are. Look at your circle of influence list and decide which ONE thing you can improve or change first, that will have the biggest positive impact on you and your business. Make this your focus.

Step 5: Create an action plan for yourself by breaking it down into simple steps. What is the first step you could take today, to improve your situation? Celebrate every step and recognise the progress you’re making. You’ll soon start to see the positive changes and feel more in control of your situation. This will help your circle of influence to grow, building your confidence and with that, your resilience.

When you feel uncertain about where you're going in your business, or what to do next, come back to your circle of influence. Make sure you're not wasting your time and energy on things that you can't change, and focus on what you can.

If you’re struggling with your holistic business, let’s have a chat about how I can help you – book your discovery call today.