In our daily lives, we need to look at where we focus our time and energy. 【小题1】—our health, our children, problems at work, the national debt, or the nuclear war. We could separate those from things in which we have no particular mental or emotional involvement by creating a “Circle of Concern”.

【小题2】, it becomes apparent that there are some things over which we have no real control and others that we can do something about. We could identify those concerns in the latter group by limiting them within a smaller Circle of Influence.

Proactive (积极主动的) people focus their efforts on the Circle of Influence. 【小题3】. 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 on the Circle of Concern. 【小题4】, 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 sadness.

【小题5】—to be a better listener, to be a more loving marriage partner, to be a better student, to be a more cooperative and dedicated employee. Sometimes the most proactive thing we can do is be happy, just to genuinely smile. Happiness, like unhappiness, is a proactive choice. There are things, like the weather, which our Circle of Influence will never include. But as proactive people, we can carry our own physical or social weather with us. We can be happy and accept those things that at present we can’t control, while we focus our efforts on the things that we can.