Mrs Sweetie and I recently enjoyed a Caribbean ministry cruise with 45 folks from 12 churches. As a part of this adventure, I led a seminar: “Write your memoir in advance: 6 powerful choices to help you write the next chapter.”
This seminar was not about writing, but choosing the kind of life you want to live so that you are not waiting for life to happen to you. That way your “memoir” (whether written or told) will be a report of your life based on your intentional choices. This post is the first of six.
In his book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey talked about two circles: the Circle of Concern and the Circle of Influence. They don’t need a lot of explanation.
The Circle of Concern refers to things about which we are concerned, but over which we have little influence. This year’s presidential election comes to mind. We may be frustrated, nervous, excited, stressed, or ____________ (fill in your word) over the direction of our country, but other than casting our ONE vote, we have little influence over the outcome.
The Circle of Influence refers to things over which we have some influence. We may need cooperation, but when we voice our opinions, we have the ability to influence outcomes—like where our family will eat dinner this evening.
Another example is a survey I conducted with a pastorless church yesterday concerning their opinions and preferences regarding the skills, experience, and character qualities of their next pastor. No one person has complete sway over the decision, but each person’s voice contributes to the profile that is being developed.
Covey points out an interesting phenomenon. If we spend most of our time and energy operating in our Circle of Concern, we will see our Circle of Influence shrink. Think about the people you know who post 10 political articles a day on Facebook. Is their influence actually growing? Have you changed your mind about how your are going to vote? Not likely. Does their Facebook posting make you want to hear more of what they have to say?
The converse is true. If we spend most of our time and energy operating in the Circle of Influence, we actually see that circle grow. The more time we devote to the things we can ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING ABOUT, we will find that there are more things we can actually do something about!
I submit that there is a third circle: The Circle of Control. It is a small circle, but it has the greatest impact on our lives. It is about things that we not only influence, but we actually control. What’s in that circle? We control our CHOICES. And the first choice we can control is which circle gets the most time, effort, and energy.
We control our choices. Click To Tweet
Here’s your homework for the week: Make a list of the things that take up your time and identify which circle they fall in. Highlight the top two items in your Circle of Influence that you want to maximize and the top two items in your Circle of Concern that you could eliminate.
Your life matters too much to God for you to be wasting your energy.
