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<\/figure>The topmost circle represents our ideals, the things with which are most worried and concerned.\u00a0 We encourage students to examine their passions and anxieties and to make the most exhaustive list possible. Their answers range from guns to testing to students without coats.\u00a0 As we generate the list, we can feel the weight of powerlessness descend upon the room.\u00a0 We slump in disempowerment, drowned by the ocean of unsolvable problems, sinking in the mire of educational policy as impacts our classrooms and students.\u00a0 <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
The bottom circle, on the other hand, represents the things we can control and may range from the mundane to the complex.\u00a0 For example, a teacher can control the way the desks are arranged, the way time is allocated the time in class, where they stand during passing time, whether or not they sponsor or attend sporting events or plays at school, and the committees in which they participate.\u00a0 The shift in the energy is palpable as we move into this conversation.\u00a0 At last, things we can do!\u00a0 (It is interesting to note, however, that we also become aware that much of what we have control over is mere trivia no matter how voluminous it may appear.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Next, we move the circles together and seek the places where they overlap.\u00a0 What is the confluence between concern and influence?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The items that we can<\/strong> control, and which connect with the things that matter most to us, represent our real work.\u00a0 It is easy to get lost in the things we can control but which don\u2019t really matter but this is fruitless.\u00a0 Equally easy is the spiral into endless worry over things we can\u2019t control but this effort leaves us empty and exhausted.\u00a0 The wise educator rations their energy and effort to carefully target the confluence between their highest ideals and their most powerful actions.\u00a0 <\/p>\n<\/div> Opportunity lives in the overlap of the two.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n As Covey points out, \u201cProactive people focus their efforts in the Circle of Influence. They work on the things they can do something about. The nature of their energy is positive, enlarging, and magnifying, causing their Circle of Influence to increase. Reactive people, on the other hand, focus their efforts in that Circle of Concern. They focus on the weaknesses of other people, the problems in the environment, and circumstances over which they have no control. Their focus results in blaming and accusing attitudes, reactive language, and increased feelings of victimization. The negative energy generated by that focus, combined with neglect in areas they could do something about, causes their Circle of Influence to shrink.\u201d (Covey, 2013) <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/center.antioch.edu\/csc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/09\/Screenshot-2023-09-25-at-61400-PM.png\")
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