Don’t Waste Your Time Debating a Nuclear Free Workplace

There are three types of things people can expend energy on:

  • Things they control
  • Things they influence
  • Things for which they have concern.

The blessing/curse of living in an affluent society is that we have time to bother ourselves with things that we have absolutely no control or influence over.

At the personal level, I have am now in an age range where males become bald and fat.  I have absolutely no control over my rapidly retreating hairline, so I don’t expend any energy on that.  I do have significant influence over how fat I become, so I work hard to manage to the outcome I want.

On a societal level, I find it fascinating the degree to which we dwell on things that we have absolutely no control or influence over.  A couple decades ago when I was living in Vancouver, there was a raging debate on whether to declare the city a “Nuclear Free Zone”.

Other than making the gortex-wearing granola-heads feel good about themselves, this seemed about as relevant as cream rinse conditioner for Captain Picard.

There’s no chance a nuclear power station would ever be built anywhere near a city of such a size; the city had absolutely no jurisdiction to allow or deny visiting military ships into the harbor, and I’m assuming if there was ever a full scale nuclear Armageddon, that the inter-continental ballistic missiles would not discriminate between those cities that declared themselves nuclear free, and others (that presumably welcomed radioactive destruction).

Civic politicians really need to stick to filling potholes.  It’s what they control, and has a far greater impact on their citizens’ lives.

There is an old adage, that roughly paraphrased says, “Give me the strength to change those things I can change; to accept those things I can’t change; and the wisdom to know the difference.”

There is also a version that talks about having the skill to adequately dispose of the bodies of all those people that piss you off – but I digress.

As a manger, it’s easy to get caught up in things over which you have very little control – like deciding whether your workplace should be declared a ‘Nuclear Free Zone’.

Most managers have more demands on their time than they can possibly satisfy, yet spend far too much time and energy worrying about things they ultimately have little influence over.  Managers who focus their efforts where they can actually make a difference are far more successful.  

We just added the ‘Get More Done by Focusing on Your Circle of Control‘ Video and Cheat Sheet to the Wily Membership area, and it’s one of over 90 topics available now.  in it, we introduce the ‘Circles of Focus’ tool and show you how to conserve your valuable time and energy by targeting activities that are truly important.

Next week is Project Management 101 – we’ll show you how to keep your projects on time and on budget.   You won’t want to miss out – become a Wily Manager Member today.