Effort spent on what one can affect expands that range, and effort spent on what one merely worries about shrinks it.
Covey's distinction between a circle of concern and a smaller circle of influence inside it is a sorting device rather than a discovery. Its value is diagnostic: attention is finite, most people's concern extends far past their influence, and the exercise of locating the boundary is the intervention.
In practice
- A team that stops discussing the market and starts on its own onboarding changes something within a quarter.
- A meeting spent on decisions taken elsewhere ends with nothing anyone present can do.