Use the ‘Circle of Concern’ to Reframe Your Fears in Uncertain Times
A visual to remind you what’s in your control
In his classic book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey introduced a tool that’s stuck with me — one that I now use regularly to cope with anxiety, especially when I’m anxious about things that are outside of my control. Every situation, he writes, can be divided into two circles: the circle of concern, which consists of factors we have little or no influence over, and the circle of influence, which is made up of things we can control.
To see how it works, let’s apply these two circles to the thing that’s dominating our worries right now: the coronavirus pandemic. Here, the circle of concern is blue, and the circle of influence is white.
In the circle of concern, we can see that many external events—such as the news, other people’s behavior amid the panic, and the outbreak itself—are things that concern us, but are outside our control. In contrast, everything in the white circle, which includes our attitude and behavior, what we watch on TV, and who we surround ourselves with, are within our control.
