Where to focus in uncertain times

The fact that the last 12-18 months have been some of the hardest and most stressful times comes as no surprise to anyone who owns a business in the construction industry. Labour shortages, supply line disruptions, high rate of inflation and COVID lockdowns have contributed to project delays and a squeeze on profits. Furthermore, the banks have factored in many of these events into their risk equation and made lending tighter for home buyers, further adding to the uncertainty. And don’t even mention a war in Europe and consenting delays!

The danger is, however, that with all the challenges, frustrations and worries out there you become focused on the big macro issues in the world and lose sight of what you should be focusing on, namely your business and family. A well-known business author, Stephen Covey talked about there being two circles surrounding you. A smaller one around you, which he called your Circle of Influence, and a bigger one outside it called your Circle of Concern.

Things like a war in Europe, pandemics and government regulations and policies are all things that you may be concerned or worried about but have little or no control over. If too many of these things are in your Circle of Concern and take up too much of your thinking time, the effect is to push in on your Circle of Influence and make it feel smaller. That then causes you to feel you have less and less control over your life which will result in higher levels of anxiety and stress. People who tend to be more “reactive” often put more energy into this outer circle and start to feel a severe lack of control quite quickly.

Things that go into your Circle of Influence are those things that you do have control over. This is where people who are more “proactive” tend to put in their energies. Often it is how you choose to respond practically to a challenge that provides energy in your Circle of Influence. A few things that you could add to your Circle of Influence include:

• Improving your business knowledge.

• Putting a plan together and taking proactive and continued steps to put that plan into action.

• Changing your recruitment processes if you are struggling to find people.

• Improving your staff retention strategies to keep hold of your best people.

• Implementing a quality control system to reduce errors and complaints.

• Changing your marketing activities to increase lead flow.

• Changing your sales process to improve trust levels and increase conversion rate.

• Delegate more tasks to others so you can focus on what is more important.

All these actions and others like them are totally within your control. By focusing more positive energy here you will be able to expand your Circle of Influence and effectively push out some of the negative worries in your Circle of Concern. The human mind can usually only focus on one thought at a time. You can choose whether that thought is a positive one or a negative one. When you next catch yourself worrying or complaining about an issue you have little direct control over, ask yourself, “will worrying about this issue make my situation improve?”. The answer is invariably “NO”. Instead, ask yourself “what can I (or we) do to make the best out of this situation and what do we need to change to do that?”. Spending less time watching the media, including your social media feed, is another way to avoid an unbalanced diet of negative and concerning ideas.

By focusing on making positive changes at the edge of your Circle of Influence you will make it expand and reduce the negative thoughts in your Circle of Concern. Reach out to me at andy@tradescoach.co.nz if you want help expanding your Circle of Influence in your business.