MaXIMIze - Physical Health - Spheres

One of the questions I posed in the last post was:

Do you allow yourself to get worked up by news stories or the stories of others about things over which you have no control instead of focusing on what is in your sphere of control and/or influence?

Where we focus our mental and emotional energy has as much to do with our physical health as getting enough sleep or exercise, or eating right does.

Here is a quick visual explanation of the sphere concept.

Take a piece of paper and put a dot or some small symbol of your choosing in the center of it.

Draw a circle around that dot or symbol.

This circle signifies the thing you can control. These are the things in your life that are totally yours - habits, thoughts, actions - that you have absolute control over.

Now, draw a larger circle that surrounds that first circle.

The space between the edge of the first circle and the edge of the second circle signifies your area of influence. These are the things you cannot absolutely control, however you can exert enough influence over to produce a positive outcome.

The space beyond the edge of that second circle is what you can neither control absolutely or influence significantly - the weather for example, or perhaps your required work hours. These things may cause you concern, however, you cannot exert control or influence over them.

When we get spun up about things we can control or at least influence, we can focus that energy toward accomplishing something - and usually succeed. That success makes us feel good and positive about ourselves, which influences our physical health in a positive way. When we feel good about ourselves or something we've accomplished, we tend to feel better physically too.

When we get spun up about things we are concerned about but that we cannot control or influence, we are just blasting energy out with no successful outcome. Without the reciprocal energy from a successful outcome, all we are doing is draining our energy and drawing in negativity, which has a detrimental effect on our physical health - high blood pressure, feeling run down, disturbed sleep, etc.

So, I challenge you to take the exercise above and use it to identify what you can control and influence in your life, as well as what you are concerned about but cannot control or influence.

Then, think about where you are focusing your energy. Are you focusing on that which you can control or perhaps influence in a positive way or are you wasting energy worrying about things beyond your spheres?

When you understand where your energy is going, you can then focus it toward the things you can control, or at least influence in a positive way, and stop spending energy on things you have no control over.

Over the next few weeks we will discuss the detrimental effects of multi-tasking, and making healthy choices in food and exercise.

Until next time, Namaste!