So you want to change your life do you...
- By Sean Reddell
- Published 5/08/2008
Sean Reddell
Sean runs a company called Blaze Unlimited that believes that if you find a job you love, you'll never have to work another day in your life. The job marketplace has never looked healthier however it can still be really difficult to find your perfect job. That's where Blaze Unlimited comes in. Sean has many years of experience and is someone who is easy to deal with.
Here's my simple tip to change your life. You don't need to spend heaps of money to make it happen either.
If you want to change your life, the first (and perhaps most important) thing you have to do is change the quality of your thinking.
What do I mean by this? Good question kemo sabi.
The quality of your thinking can be measured in a number of ways, perhaps the most common is whether you are thinking optimistically or pessimistically... glass half full or half empty?
Optimistic thinking can be learned and the benefits for learning this style of thinking are persuasive. For example, optimistic thinkers report higher scores on life satisfaction tests, they experience fewer illnesses and some studies have demonstrated that they even live longer. What's more, the time that they are on this planet for is characterised by a positive emotional state rather than a negative and depressed state.
My favourite quality of thinking model is the Circle of Influence vs. the Circle of Concern (see graphic below).

For those of you not familiar with this model, let me explain it to you. The circles represent where you focus your thinking. The outer circle (red) is your Circle of Concern. This represents the things we worry about, that make us anxious, stressed, angry or worried. Often these are things we have very little or even no control over (like what somebody may think about us, what's happening to the economy or whether a talk we have to deliver is well received). When we focus our attention here we disempower ourselves, hence the negative symbols.
The inner circle (green) is your Circle of Influence. This is a mind-set that empowers you because you are focused on the things you can do something about, like being a better person, tightening your family budget, or preparing properly for that talk you were worried about. The best thing about focusing on this space, apart from the fact that you often fend off the things you were most worried about, is that the more you focus on it the bigger it gets! It is possible to have a great big green circle if you diligently work at changing the focus of your thinking.
So, how can you use this model?
I recommend using this simple model to regularly 'check in' on the quality of your thinking (especially when anxious or stressed about something - that's a good sign you need to empower yourself). It will help you to determine whether your thoughts are focused on the things that you cannot influence (thereby robbing yourself of your power to act), or on the things that you can influence (creating personal empowerment, action and motivation). Remember that this second state is far more empowering and often goes a long way towards alleviating the situation or circumstances that caused you to worry or be anxious in the first place. A simple daily scan of the quality of your thinking (positive or negative) can create conscious awareness of your thoughts and improve your skills in managing those thoughts.
Remember massive change often requires massive action and the pre-cursor to massive action is the simple belief that it's both possible and worthwhile. That's why I say to change your life you need to start by changing your thinking (you will have to act though).
Now I know that simple doesn't always mean easy, but if you start becoming conscious of the quality of your thoughts you will go a long way towards making something marvelous happen. And even if nothing actually changes as a result, looking on the bright side of a bad situation makes that situation more bearable.
