Four Forces That Affect You
Four forces that affect you
You are continually affected by four forces:
- Your own thoughts and actions.
- The actions of others.
- Mother Nature.
- Systems.
With respect to these four forces, most people tend to fall into two personality types: They tend to have one of two ways of looking at the world: the first way tends to OVER-emphasise the power of one's own thoughts, and the second way tends to UNDER- emphasise the power of one's own thoughts. As a result of this difference, we can categorise people into two types.
We will call these two types:
- The Proponents of Personal Power
- The Doom and Gloom Determinists
Proponents of Personal Power.
Tend to over emphasise the power of one's own thoughts; and say that the mind-set of the individual is sovereign over nature, sovereign over other people and sovereign over the whole universe.
Doom and gloom Determinists
Tend to UNDER-emphasise the power of one's own thoughts and say that the power of the individual is utterly futile. Doom and gloom determinists say that the mind of the individual is enslaved by other people and the universe and is a victim of nature's laws. For example, BF Skinner and the behaviourist's school of psychology teach that human free will is an illusion and that any human action is governed by the laws of what they call, "operant conditioning".
On the other hand.....
Proponents of Personal Power
Think that your outside world is determined by the content of your mind. These people end up as mystics and talk about the idea that whatever you think about tends to manifest itself in your material world. These are the people who believe in Karma. That the universe reflects back to you a manifestation of the content of your dominant thoughts.
- Bad thoughts create bad happenings.
- Good thoughts create good happenings.
These people talk about "the law of attraction". They think the material world is shaped by your "Thought vibrations". It would suggest that if a bad thing happens to you it is because you had bad thoughts in your mind that created it. If you want good things to happen to you, you need only to "think happy thoughts".
This ends up as an essentially mystical, almost semi religious view of the role of the human mind in human affairs.
Mathews 8: 13; As thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee.
Doom and Gloom Determinists
Doom and gloom Determinists tend to underestimate their own power and say that there is nothing you can do, but submit to whatever "they" have in store for you.
This is the person, who says:
"You can't fight city hall.
You can't beat the system.
Nobody will give me a job.
Nobody will give me a chance.
There is nothing I can do to change things.
I've always been unlucky."
The real truth
In fact, the real truth is neither on the side of "proponents of personal power"; nor is it one the side of "the doom and gloom determinists". The truth is that you need to give consideration to all four forces.
You need to take account of all four forces
You are affected continually by four forces:
- Your own actions and in-actions. What you do and what you don't do, what you say and fail to say.
- The actions of others. What other people do for you and to you.
- Mother Nature. Mother Nature is not always benevolent. Mother Nature can kill.
Be warned! "The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows". - Systems. You live embedded in a global system of systems. These systems sometimes help you and, at other times, they hinder you.
But notice that only one of the four forces that you can control is set one
- You can control only yourself: your own actions and your own in-actions.
- You cannot control the actions of others.
- You cannot control Mother Nature.
- You cannot control the system you live in.
So, take control of set 1, and do what you can to improve your own actions; your own mind, your own emotions, your own language, and your relationships and your own work habits.
Work on trying to improve yourself more than you do trying to improve the others.
If you do that, you can maximise your INFLUENCE on others, on the effects of nature and on the system in which you live.
Don't be a mystic of the mind nor be a deterministic prophet of doom: instead, work on perfecting your own performance; and see how far that will take you.
Definition: Four forces model
The four forces model is a personal development guide that says your life is shaped by four powers: your own actions, other people, nature and human systems. You can steer only your own actions, yet sharp choices can tip the other three in your favour. By focusing on self-improvement first, you raise your influence over events you cannot fully control.
Show CG4D Definition
- Lists four sources of influence: self, others, nature, systems
- Treats the four sources as always acting on every person
- Holds that only self actions are directly controllable
- Shows that better self actions can expand influence over the other forces
Article Summary
Four forces shape each day: your own actions, other people, nature and the systems around you. Accept that you can guide only the first, then sharpen it; stronger choices let you sway the other three, even when storms, rules and other minds stay outside your reach.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some questions that frequently get asked about this topic during our training sessions.
What are the four forces that affect me each day?
Which of the four forces can I control directly?
How do Proponents of Personal Power view life events?
What do Doom and Gloom Determinists believe?
Why focus on self improvement in the four forces model?
Can better actions really influence other people, nature and systems?
How do I balance positive thinking with real-world limits?
Thought of something that's not been answered? Ask Us Today!
Did You Know: Key Statistics
The 2024 CIPD Good Work Index shows that only 35% of UK staff feel they hold strong control over how they carry out their job, down from 38% in 2023. A 2023 study in Nature Science of Learning finds that a brief growth-mindset lesson lifts pupils’ grades by an average of six per cent and raises their effort levels by forty per cent.About the Author: Chris Farmer
Chris Farmer is the founder of the Corporate Coach Group and has many years' experience in training leaders and managers, in both the public and private sectors, to achieve their organisational goals, especially during tough economic times. He is also well aware of the disciplines and problems associated with running a business.
Over the years, Chris has designed and delivered thousands of training programmes and has coached and motivated many management teams, groups and individuals. His training programmes are both structured and clear, designed to help delegates organise their thinking and, wherever necessary, to improve their techniques and skills.
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