It is a classic representation of our sensation of being in charge or feeling impotent.

The circle of preoccupation consists of everything in the world that may affect us to a greater or lesser degree. Things outside of this circle do not concern us.

The circle of influence contains events and experiences that somehow depend on us. Here we create, provoke or allow things to happen: our actions have an impact. Outside the circle of influence we feel as victims: events do not depend on us.

Some have a very small circle of influence and a big circle of preoccupation. Their life experience is about impotence, fatalism or passive observation. Others in turn see themselves as masters of their own destiny and constantly strive to expand their zone of influence.

The key message of this model is that the circle of influence is not fixed. It expands or shrinks depending on our awareness and in particular on our focus. Those who search easily find reasons for why things cannot be changed. But those who believe in their own power sooner or later find a way: their zone of influence grows.

"People usually justify what is through their circumstances. People who do well in this world, are those who look for the circumstances they want, and if they don't find them, they create them."
George Bernard Shaw

Altoren’s work concentrates on focus because it determines whether we feel as victims or as actors.