Identify the Circle of Influence

When you decide on a Goal / Target, you should identify the Action Plan. Along with Action plan, you should also identify the Obstacles & the Opportunities. In the Obstacles, you should identify the Circle of Influence.

Circle of Influence is the one in which we have control. There are different factors, which we can internally control. Then there are external factors on which we have no control. These factors are the Circle of Concern. You cannot do much on the Circle of Concern - hence it is concern. These are the external factors over which you can have little control. The factors such as Taxes, Inflation, Views of Other people, Terrorist Attack, Earthquake, etc. are all things over which you cannot do anything. You just have to put these things aside so you do not waste your time & energy on these. You should always focus on what you can do and what is in your hands.

Whenever we think about our target, we should always think about the Circle of Influence. Because these are the things which we can plan, we can change and adjust as per our need. The are in full control of us. You should have short term as well as long term strategies for these. It is in your hands to learn new things, it is in your hands to vary the prices of your products till it gets acceptability. It is up to you to check the costs and keep your overheads in limits so that you can take out profits even at low level of sales. These are all under your Circle of Influence.

First thing you need to do is to identify your target, obstacles, opportunities & the circle of influence.