What Makes a Successful Life? Part Two
What is within your control? – I come across a lot of people within organisations with very sore heads from banging their head against the wall time and again over something they have little control over. Stephen Covey in his book ‘The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’ talks about the circle of concern and circle of influence. And it is a concept that I frequently introduce to clients to help them to be more effective and successful by focussing their efforts on what is within their control. Your circle of concern can include many things from: job security, your performance, the next presentation you are doing, your children’s education, the environment, war, family strife, your teenager’s drinking habits. But as you can see you have varying control over these things! Your circle of influence contains everything that you can directly have an impact over: developing your skills; getting a good nights sleep to maintain your performance, managing your response to challenging situations at work, so that you can communicate effectively, re-cycling, using public transport, countering prejudice and conflict in your own life; managing your own mood so that you can react positively to your teenage children. And the list goes on. Whether you are dealing with a concern in your life or wanting to make changes, you will feel more positive, motivated and satisfied if you focus on what is within your influence. What is within your circle of concern? What is within your circle of influence? Transforming negativity – just about everyone from time to time feels negative about themselves, their situation or life in general, although for some this is more of a state of life than a passing phase. Either way spotting and transforming negativity is one of the keys to success. Spotting it – being aware of your mood, your energy levels at the beginning, throughout and at the end of the day. If you have trouble doing this I have a ‘mood map’ I can email you to assist you in doing this. Transforming it – The important point is to find methods that suit you. What can you do that will change your mood, lift your spirits? How can you appeal to your ‘fun child’? If you are able to manage your mood, change your state of mind you are likely to end up feeling more energised and motivated to forge ahead with everything you need to get done. Go to where the energy is…. this is something a colleague once told me. I have found that if I’m feeling stuck or blocked on a task or project, doing something else, whatever it is, usually leads me to feeling more energised and gives me enough of a sense of achievement to get on with the original task. Are there areas of your life that you feel negative about? Are there times when you find the negativity seeping in? What can you do to turn this around? Want more Inspiration? If you want to create more success in your life, at work or in your business we can offer consultancy advice, 1:1 support, and group workshops to assist you in doing this. Just call 01865 377334 or email mg@grovelands.org.uk to arrange a time to speak in confidence. For more information about Grovelands visit our website: www.grovelands.org.uk Feel free to pass this issue of ‘Inspire’ onto others – if you have been forwarded this issue and would like to receive your own copy each month, click here to subscribe to our monthly newsletter.
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