{"id":2587,"date":"2024-09-18T19:44:14","date_gmt":"2024-09-18T19:44:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hectorkott.com\/?p=2587"},"modified":"2024-09-18T19:44:14","modified_gmt":"2024-09-18T19:44:14","slug":"free-yourself-from-worrying-about-things-you-cant-control-with-the-help-of-a-simple-image","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hectorkott.com\/?p=2587","title":{"rendered":"Free yourself from worrying about things you can’t control with the help of a simple image"},"content":{"rendered":"

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In a world of 8 billion people, a septillion stars<\/u><\/a>, and 17 different ways to stub your toe while walking through your bedroom, there are infinite things that we can all spend our time and emotional energy worrying about. The problem is that many important things, whether it\u2019s politics<\/u><\/a>, the environment<\/u><\/a>, or the economy, are realistically beyond our control.<\/p>\n

Yes, we can vote, make sound choices with our money, and recycle, but our actions will have little effect on these issues no matter how much energy we spend worrying about them.<\/p>\n

So what do we do? From the ancient Stoics to modern-day psychologists, great thinkers believe that if we refocus on what we can control or influence, we\u2019ll be much happier and empowered to make real changes in the world.<\/p>\n

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What is the Circle of Influence?<\/h2>\n

The theory is known as the circle of influence<\/u><\/a> and it can be explained with a simple graphic with 3 circles:<\/p>\n

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\nvia The Open University Creative Commons <\/a><\/small><\/p>\n

Circle of control:<\/h2>\n

\u201cThere are actually very few things we control. We control what we do with our bodies (hopefully); how we act, what we think (easier said than done, I know), and how we react to events or people (again, not necessarily easy, but doable!),\u201d Diane N. Solomon Ph.D., The Narrative Nurse Practitioner writes at Psychology Today. <\/u><\/a>\u201cPretty much everything else lies outside our circle of control. No matter how hard we try, we won\u2019t be able to control those things.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ancient Stoics defined this area<\/u><\/a> as our \u201copinion, motivation, desire, aversion, and, in a word, whatever is of our own doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is where we should focus the vast majority of our attention because our energies are best used helping ourselves, our families, friends and those in our community. In many ways, that makes more sense than spending our time and energy hoping that someone in Washington will do the right thing or that people in a country across the globe will reduce their carbon emissions.<\/p>\n

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