Circles Of Influence, 10 Simple Ways How To Think About it

Circles of Influence…what influence? For what purpose? How To Think about this in a way that will make you more successful?

How To Think about The Unknown & The Unseen

What a strange topic for most people…isn’t it?

That’s not strange at all because we don’t see the signal that makes our heartbeat tick, do we?

Nor do we see our thoughts inside our head, or the air, or the constant replacement of millions of cells inside our bodies every 6 seconds, and on and on.

If we don’t see it, it’s just that we don’t see it. That’s it.

Aren’t we lucky that our heartbeat goes on even if we don’t see it?…and, it happens to be the most important thing that allows us to live…and… it’s unseen! We never have to think about it!

The unknown…how to think about it? Well, you know very little of what there’s to know. Studies say that most educated humans range at 1-2% levels of what there’s to know…if they are educated.

Think about the unknown as a place for your next evolution. From where your next new knowledge will come from. Think of it as salvation and compassion.

Think about the fear you would have if you knew when you are going to die. Think about it as hope.

Think of the fact that you don’t know what influences you most of the time and that you are mostly unknown to yourself. You don’t know where you came from and where you are going to when you leave here.

Don’t make the mistake ignorant humans make that think that what they don’t know or don’t see doesn’t exist.

It’s only the fear of the unknown bundled with their possession of a life that speaks through them. It’s the psychology of a 3-year-old and as an adult, you don’t want to be stuck at that level.

Learn to love the unknown. That’s how to think about it!

Now that I have barely scratched the surface about the unseen and the unknown let’s move on to the unseen Circles of Influence.

What Are Circles Of Influence?

In its mundane meaning circles of influence refers to knowing the right people, hanging around those right circles to make money or gather personal power to influence some cause.

The real meaning is way deeper, much more far-reaching in its implications and impact. You need to know how to think about this concept else you can make adverse decisions about your life and career.

This is not easy to explain as we are dealing with metaphysical understanding, which means beyond your normal sensory perception, more relating to unseen factors.

Nevertheless, getting to understand the meaning of circles of influence can have a huge advantage in all walks of life, especially in business, as it can explain what influences your thinking, emotions, and decision-making process.

That intelligence requires the person to stretch above their inclination to get things cut, packaged, and sliced to cater to their current level of development, perception & comfort zone.

Without an effort to let go of prejudgement, this article will fly straight over the heads of lazy readers who want everything easy (which is a mental and emotional epidemic these days, never mind the Corona)!

So here it is…

The term “circles of influence” conveys the idea that when you do something, knowingly or unknowingly you enter a circle of like-minded people who are thinking the same way, doing the same things, and having a similar emotional attachment.

It doesn’t happen right away, it happens after you have repeated the same patterns over and over again.

There are many different circles of influence, thousands, and you may be familiar with expressions like a circle of Crime, a circle of Violence, a circle of Blood Brotherhood, circles of Teenagers, Holywood circle, the circle of Friends…and others such as the circle of cancer patients, the circle of thieves….and on and on.

The point here is that EVERYONE IS PART OF A CIRCLE, in fact, part of many circles of influence, to which they are conscious or unconscious.

Here is the key point…Circles of influence do exactly that they influence, your mind, opinions, emotions, ambitions beliefs, and even character. They are that powerful, especially because they work in the hiding and influence you unconsciously.

They influence a person to be positive, more able, richer, more successful, or more negative, more bitter, sick in the mind, whatever.

They have the effect of causing many people to think in the same ways and believe in the same things, and even do crazy things, good or bad.

The reason why it is important is that when you enter a circle you become connected to more than you realize, to a greater influence, which can work through you, for you, or against you, depending on your knowledge and ability to think about it according to the big picture.

10 Steps How to Think About Circles of Influence

Here are the 10 basic steps on how to think about the concept of Circles of Influence and consciously choose the influence that you want to be affected by and affect others by.

1. Know that circles exist whether you are aware of them or not, and mostly you are not
2. They affect you mostly unconsciously, the more common & popular the thinking the more people ascribe to these circles of influence the more they affect you automatically
3. Every circle is a circle of influence to the degree which you feed it by your thoughts and actions
4. It influences your mind, emotions, actions, and decision making
5. You need to know what influences you and how that influence shows up in you
6. You need to be clear about the purpose of that influence
7. Circles of influence must become a conscious choice for you if you are to succeed
8. Conscious to mean… know what influence you, how it affects you & for what purpose
9. Use strategic thinking in your life to determine the Circles oo Influence you want to belong to
10. The only way to be able to avoid being crowded by circles of influence is to become utterly UNIQUE  & ORIGINAL about the way you think about life issues

Circles of Influence And The Metaphysics

Remember I wrote a few paragraphs before that it’s not easy to understand the concept of Circle of Influence because we are delving into the realms of the metaphysical which most people are not trained for.

Realize that the very act of thinking is metaphysical and we do it automatically all the time, so it’s not that difficult to understand if you let yourself think out the box.

Strategic thinking is, of course metaphysical, because we think about the future that hasn’t happened yet before we actually get there. Once we get there it becomes physical.

It is just that when we learn how to think about circles of influence we extend the range of perception of the metaphysical. But, follow me here, step by step, you’ll get it and with it the huge importance of it will gradually descend upon you. I am sure.

How Do Circles of Influence Form?

Circles of influence are formed by people who think alike about an issue, act alike, have the same hobbies, same occupations.

Examples are many, musicians, doctors, football players, football fans, professors, leaders, political affiliations, and on and on.

Also, those who have the same emotions, same attitude, same interests, beliefs, passion, history, diseases, and any common denominator that they IDENTIFY with.

Because…when they do all these things they feed energy and are fed by energy, and that energy collects together and form a body of growing energy.

When you think and feel you use energy. That energy has a home where all the same energies go to. (“Birds of a feather flock together”…also in the energy worlds)

It’s like depositing money (energy) in a bank and withdraw money (energy) when you need it.

This is an excellent analogy to what circles of influence are and how to think about them.

People who belong to the same circle send energy to it all the time and draw energy from it all the time without knowing each other.

For example, there are millions of Lakers fans around the world.

They obviously don’t know each other but they are all a part of the same circle, all millions of them, share interests, buy jerseys, watch games, research stats, become happy with victories, disappointed with losses, influenced by each other’s energy without even realizing.

They all radiate the same energy. To make this simple to understand take one person’s energy, feelings, thinking, actions, and multiply it by 100 million and you get a huge circle of influence involving the Lakers.

That means that when they are happy they are really happy and when sad really sad. It works both ways.

This is an innocent example because it doesn’t lead to extreme consequences, positive or negative.

Now, however, we can extend this understanding to other circles of influence which are far more meaningful in our lives.

The Power of Circles of Influence

So, as explained circles of influence do not really exist physically but do very much exist metaphysically. Each circle energizes and is energized by its subscribers.

That’s why you may sometimes feel extreme feelings and not know why. You are likely influenced by one of the many circles of influences you belong to unconsciously.

The energy of the circle is locked-in within its unseen borders. That energy can be there from all over the world and from as far in history as it existed.

The more we think about something the more energy we send it. The more we do something the more energy we send it and the more we generate feelings about something the more it’s energized by us.

If we continue with the Lakers example we are talking about imaging all the millions of fans worldwide that do all of the above about the Lakers, or Manchester United, or any other team.

But these are innocent examples of circles of influence. This is where it becomes very important to lift the curtain on this subject so you can learn how to think about how to think.

More Of How To think

Circles of influence intertwine are and often connect.

The more common the circles of influence are, the more accessible they are, and equally the more difficult they are to leave. A further glaring example is social media.

Just think that three thousand five hundred million (three and a half billion…just makes the point better) subscribe to Facebook and other social networks every day.

I don’t need to tell you the effect of these circles of influence, how to think, and what attitudes to have about different issues.

Another important factor to keep in mind is that once a person has been involved in a circle long enough the circle becomes part of who they are, how they think, and what they identify with…thinking they are special and unique…they are not!

This is when people become locked into a pattern of thinking, feeling emotion, and actions that define who they think they are…and they think that they cannot change.

 

 

How Circles Of Influence Affect Your Life

This is the point where we need to extend the concept of how it affects your life unbeknown to you, the professional, and how to think about it for your own success and benefit.

Take for example the “circle of gossip” in the workplace….do I need to explain further? …But I will, this backbiting affects one and all organizations in the same destructive ways. It destroys trust and grows suspicion where eventually there’s no possibility of real teamwork.

If you are a professional that works in an organization I probably don’t need to tell you how much that negatively affects productivity.

In addition, it is important to realize that people “infect” people with mental and emotional “viruses”, by the way, they think and use their emotions.

People “sneeze & cough” upon each other mental and emotional viruses quite regularly.  (Ref. Read the book “Emotional Intelligence” by Daniel Goleman).

 

Additional Circle Examples

The circle of Revenge; where adversaries & enemies become, unbeknownst to them, members of the same circle… and are followers of one another (think about that one…) they all seek revenge and thus join the same circle in spite of the fact that they are in opposite camps.

And then there is the understanding that some circles hang together like the circle of Generosity and the circle of Compassion and others that don’t mix together such as the circle of Cruelty and the circle of Compassion…

At this point you have to consider a stunning fact…negative circles of influence tend to suck people into them and then exert control upon them.

Positive circles of influence are invitational and promote free choice without exerting persuasive control….people tend to enter positive circles with conscious choice and decision, for example, voluntary circles of humanitarian assistance or deliberately giving someone a confirmation about a well-done job.

Of course, it is impossible to ignore the meaning of Freedom and Choice when one begins to understand how to think about the meaning of circles of influence

Let me take it to another level and open up for you the possibility that there are many circles, of different kinds, levels, and denominations, which enable humans to exercise different levels of excellence.

Here are some further examples of circles of influence in different levels, from the mundane to the profound, that may elucidate the matter further.

Circles of Interest & Activities: Facebook addicts, Circle of golfers, tennis fans, football fans, knitting clubs, the circle of employees (easily identified by similar mindset where ever you go in the world), circles of the self-employed, of careful drivers, of wild drivers, nature walkers, bicycling, motorcycling clubs, tattoos. (Note how these two seem to merge, tattoo and motorcycling)

More examples, readers, writers, drummers, musicians, alcoholics, the circle of obesity, of TV couch potato, video games, computer games, a circle of youth, middle age, old age, (a well-known concept in Florida is what has come to be known as Doctors Parties) young families, divorced couples…and thousands of other circles.

All represent circles where many people are part of…but we seldom realize that we are part of a huge group of people that we often don’t see or know.

Part of how to think is simply by knowing something exists… so here is more advanced knowledge for you

The Impact Of Circles On Human Character 

The circle of Giving, the circle of Taking, the circle of Empathy, the circle of being a Victim, the circle of Cruelty, the circle of Gossip, the circle of Inferiority, the circle of Superiority…and many other examples that I am sure you can add to the list.

Let’s go deeper still, to Circles of Personal Development, Refinement, and Purpose… there are rare circles of True Leadership, which means Leadership By Example (By Example are the two most important words that belong within the circle of leadership) where honor still exists.

Circle of Team Work bound by lasting values, Circles of Happiness of Common Purpose, Circles of Inter-Support, Circles of Love (where Love has become part of the person and accompanies them in everything they do).

Circle of Inspiration (a spiritual quality that can energize people in a very powerful way to achieve success and levels of excellence they never thought possible…) – This is where the term “Your Excellency” truly applies.

Circles of Influence In the Life of A Professional

How does the notion of circles impact you – the professional?

All of the above that has been written impacts you the professional more intensely because you are in a competitive environment that regularly depletes you out of your consciousness and decrease your capacity to think with the right kind of tools.

You are heavily affected by the level of energy that exists in your workplace, which is part of different circles of influence, some of which you are not aware of.

Your ability to be truly professional depends on which circles of influence you ascribe to.

Your ability to perform at a high level of excellence and productivity is affected by the collective energy that you are joined to, positive or negative!!!

A person may be part of many different circles, which will determine if they are tapping into the power of positive thinking which energizes and optimizes skills or are part of circles that are based on negativity which will take away from their potential and skill level.

Circles of Influence questions that will help you locate your decision-making level:

• What circles are you part of?
• What is the intensity of your participation in them?
• Is it a result of a conscious decision or did you just drift into it?
• Are you free in your decision-making process or are you influenced by the circles you are part of?
• Are the circles that you are part of enabling you to achieve your full potential as a human being and as a professional or do they detract from your natural abilities?

For example, being part of the circle of fear of making mistakes means that you are not a free thinker or a creative person, or an effective person.

Don’t go there!

 

How To Become Free?

Lift yourself out of the mundane and become unique, original, and curious as a child about everything you deal with.

Don’t take the easy road and make conscious educated choices that are based on unbiased facts, reasons, that also feel right, which means your instincts need to confirm your choices.

To make good choices you need the skills of strategic thinking and strategic planning because they reveal the big picture.

I am providing for you in this article the knowledge that will set your feet upon the path of learning how to think for yourself and become more yourself, rather than everybody else masquerading as you.

Ask strategic questions such as;  “is this really what I want?” and if not, make a decision, find the self-discipline, the strength, and conviction, and simply let go of connection to wrong circles of influence.

Try to not look back once you let go because the Circle might lure you back in…Think of the biblical story of Lot’s wife (again, more information and tools will be provided in my seminars.)

It is worthy to note that the more subtle the circle is, the more difficult it is to realize that one is part of the circle, and therefore it is more challenging to let go.

 

On A Final Note

The notion of Circles of influence can give you a heads-up perception about your situation as a professional and what you can do to improve your performance.

Merely the knowing of the existence of circles of influence is a great advantage…in fact, it’s 50% of the solution.

Use that knowledge to become aware of what affects you because of what you aligned yourself with and learn how to think about things out of the box.

If you took in what I wrote in this article and confirmed it by collecting your own examples of the circles of influence that crowd your life, you might understand why you often get confused, dispersed, and complicated in your decision-making process.

It is said that the truth is a freedom agent and it is.

The truth will set you free if you know what influences you and interferes with your decision-making.

Awareness training is an important part of my leadership training where I equip you with “how to think” tools that put you way ahead of the game.

Most philosophers agree on one issue which is “you become what you think about” and for situational leadership understanding how to think about circles of influence is key to becoming excellent leaders.

Hope you enjoyed this article and the insights it provides.

I am here for you, to help with “how to think” tools in these challenging and rewarding times…rewarding for those who know how to think.

Eli Harari

The Life Coach for Professionals™

 

 

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