Spheres of Influence: The Know Question

Maintain a posture of growth to make a lasting impact in your spheres of influence – Anonymous.

The Recap

Start with What

Being present in your spheres of influence is critical to making a difference. Absence in your spheres lessens your currency of trust and, eventually, your effectiveness. Being present with your words, actions, decisions, and habits turns your spheres into places of engagement, service, and transformation. Don’t underestimate the power of your presence and your ability to positively impact your areas of influence, no matter how small. This ability starts with how you use the toolkit of your words, actions, decisions, and habits. Your impact starts with asking, What words, decisions, actions, or habits are required of me? 

Continue with How

Asking the ‘how question’ begins with recognizing the lasting impression we can make. It eliminates selfishness by allowing us to consider the people around us and how what we say and do will impact their lives. In your sphere of influence, your words, actions, and decisions are the seeds that can bring out the best of the people around you.

The Posture

This short recap of the past two blog posts positions you for the final input regarding our spheres of influence. Today’s question is, knowing the impact, am I still willing to speak the words, take the action, or make the decision I intended to? Life is about the journey, and to impact our spheres positively, the journey to properly deploy our words, actions, and decisions is worth taking. This journey, which begins with the what question and continues with how, improves our posture of thought. Similar to how good body posture has many benefits: more energy, reduced risk of injury, less frequent headaches, better breathing, and stronger core muscles; you will discover less potential to hurt people, lower stress, and have a higher quality of life because better postures of thought equate to better quality of words, actions, and decisions. 

After evaluating your words, actions, and decisions with the first two questions, are there adjustments you need to make? This exemplifies the art of rethinking and unlearning to be more effective. How can we determine if we are wrong or right without an assessment? How can we let go of postures of thought that no longer serve us well and make improvements that will bring positive and lasting change in our spheres? An illustration of trapping monkeys long ago helps to explain. 

A coconut is hollowed, and a banana is placed inside. The other end of the coconut is chained to a tree. The hole in the coconut is large enough for the monkey to fit his open hand into but small enough that his clenched fist cannot come out. Not willing to let go of the banana inside the coconut, the monkey becomes a captive of his choice. 

The inability to escape old and destructive thought patterns, decisions, and actions keeps us from pursuing a better and higher quality of life in our spheres of influence. We end up banana monkeys, incarcerated by what we won’t let go of. Our spheres suffer the same fate. To quote Pastor Andy Stanley, “What we often hold onto can be the very thing holding off our future.” The know question keeps us from living in the dangerous world of selfish choices and assumptions where our feelings instead of thinking drive our lives. 

The know question keeps us from living in the dangerous world of selfish choices and assumptions where our feelings instead of thinking drive our lives. 

As you repeat this cycle of what, how, and when, you will discover the output of this process is growth. Your growth has an instantaneous effect on your spheres. Growth is the best commitment you can make to your spheres of influence. Leadership expert John Maxwell is fond of saying, “Growth is the only guarantee that tomorrow will get better.” If your spheres are areas you value, then growth is vital to making a difference. The figure below illustrates this.

Final thought: Our spheres are not only areas of influence. They are places we value and should want to change positively. One thing should always define our presence in these areas of influence: our words, actions, and decisions made them better. Measure what you do in terms of the value it will bring. All the best as you make an impact in your spheres of influence. 

Keep on keeping on.