In the eve of Christmas, in view of the current economical turmoil that is shaking the world,

I am wondering in what direction we should be looking and working in order to ride this wave and come out of it stronger maybe even a little bit more prepared for the next wave that could hit us.

And then I realized that there is not much we can do about what is outside of our circle of influence. Are we victim of the sub primes scandals, of the giddiness of the banking system in the US? Our economy is in some sorts. Not that the means are not there, just that they are now well protected and shy to come out… So what should we do? Are we to be limiting our actions and reactions to commenting the latest article on the Herald tribune or the latest analysis of the recently appointed American Presidential Economical Advisor, who says to the world ( 3 days before Christmas) that the situation is going to get much worse before it gets any better…

I have a tendency to expect from those people to give us some kind of solution…. Not more food for our now embedded morosity.

My daughter recently sent me a couple of interesting definitions:

What is a Banker: Someone who is willing to lend you money if you can prove to him that you do not need it, a honorable man who will gladly lend you an umbrella when the weather is beautiful and will reclaim as soon as it starts to rain.

What is an Economist: An expert who will know tomorrow why what he predicted yesterday did not happen today.

In view of this I decided to take a proactive attitude in whatever I can influence. In my workshops, I often emphasize on the idea that we should invest the energy we are using on focusing on unproductive tasks or thoughts on the areas that we can actually influence and do something about.

Steven Covey has to that effect created an amazing tool With the Circles of Influence and Circle of Concern, which I nut-shelled as such:

Proactive Focus – Positive energy, enlarging your Circle of Influence, YOU control IT

Reactive Focus – Negative Energy, Reduces your Circle of Influence, IT controls YOU

If you are like me, not whishing to be labeled, or even associated to the second scenario, their is one thing that you can do to start to change things for yourself. Actually, there are much more then one…. But I only have so many words allocated to me in this December Issue of Emotional Intelligence Tips…. So I’ll give you a few pointers…. Check out the activities posted in “Small Steps To Being Emotionally Intelligent”

Dr. JP Bonnifay
CEO & Lead Consultant
HPI Sdn. Bhd.