How much time do you spend trying to control things you cannot control? Maybe it’s your child, the speed of the washing machine, or the rush hour traffic.

There’s an idea that I discovered called the circle of influence. The idea behind this is that there are certain things that are within our control, things that we can influence.

And then there is the circle of concern. The circle of control is full of excuses, victimization, and blame. This circle has things we cannot influence, but we often still concern ourselves with.

The proactive approach to life is to spend more time focusing on the things we can change and influence.