Control and Influence

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Control and Influence

In life, there are things that we can control and things that we cannot control. For many of us, the things that we feel are out of our control cause a great deal of worry and stress to us.

Stephen R Covey created the ‘Circle of Influence and Control’ tool. We often use it in team building / productivity, but the concept can equally be applied to our personal lives. By using this tool, we become aware of what is within our control (Circle of control), what is not within our control (Circle of Concern), and things that are out of our control but we can influence them in one way or the other (Circle of Influence).

Activity

  • Take three (3) clean sheets of paper.
  • Take one of the sheets and label at the top of the page, ‘Circle of Concern’
  • On the ‘Circle of Concern’ sheet, make a list of all the areas of concern to you; all the things that you are bothered about. When you are done, put the sheet to one side.
  • Take another sheet and label it, ‘Circle of Control’
  • Look at the list on your ‘Circle of Concern’ sheet, transfer all the items that you can control to your ‘Circle of Control’ sheet. Cross out the items on your ‘Circle of Concern’ sheet as you transfer them to your ‘Circle of Control’ sheet.
  • Once that is done, put the sheet to one side and take your last clean sheet. Label it ‘Circle of Influence’.
  • Look at the remainder of the list on your ‘Circle of Concern’ sheet, think of ways you could influence some of the things that are out of your control. For example, if you feel unsecure about your job, could you learn a new skill to help broaden your options?
  • For those items that you can influence, move them to your ‘Circle of Influence’ sheet, crossing out the items on your ‘Circle of Concern’ sheet as you move them.
  • Explore the items on your ‘Circle of Influence’ sheet and think of ways you can move them to your ‘Circle of Control’.

If you have carried out this activity, well done to you!

Like many others who have completed this activity, you have probably realised that there are in fact many items in your life that you can actively control or change your attitude and response to. This creates some form of relief, particularly in those areas of control where we felt were out of our control.

Priscilla Hackman-Asamoah

Priscilla Hackman-Asamoah

My mission is to help you create effective and efficient ways of working to achieve your desired results. To see if you could benefit from our dedicated 1-2-1 coaching services, book your free discovery call today

https://phacoaching.co.uk/about/

Comments (5)

  1. Elinam:
    Oct 24, 2020 at 09:29 AM

    Wow you are getting better and better every time mommy

  2. Rev. Dr Sammy Rupiya:
    Oct 24, 2020 at 03:10 PM

    Well detailed. Very powerful and educative teaching.
    This is excellent work.

  3. Angela:
    Oct 24, 2020 at 06:12 PM

    Great! Very educative. Thanks a lot

  4. Lucy:
    Oct 25, 2020 at 09:14 AM

    Very insightful and inspiring, thank you.

  5. Etonam:
    Oct 26, 2020 at 09:15 AM

    The content is great!



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