Cheryl was born a worrier.

Her father is a worrier.

It's easy to see how growing up as a child she's inherited or copied certain behaviours as we all do infants and toddlers. We take both the good and bad, the stronger and weaker characteristics from those around us, especially parents.

I'm on the other end of the scale. Things I should be concerned over I'm often ignoring. I've been described as soo laid back at times, that I'm almost horizontal! I do worry though, but I don't often share those concerns.

But over the years together Cheryl and I have made good use of the concept of the Circles of Influence. It's a simple approach to understanding the difference between control, influence, and concern.

I first came across the Circles of Influence when following the work of the late Stephen Covey but I'm not sure whether or not he was the first person to develop the concept or whether it's borrowed from elsewhere.

The concept divides the things we face in life into three...

I first drafted this post at the beginning of the year. The weather was cold, wet and miserable.

I suffer a little from seasonal affective disorder, that condition of feeling blue and down due to the lack of sunlight and bright days. I find it takes the edge off my normally happy disposition and air of positivity that I generally have.

I'm not alone in this either. According to psychiatrist Dr. Elinore McCance-Katz:

It's been shown pretty clearly that as daylight decreases, starting in the fall, people will have more feelings of depression and anxiety. If they are feeling depression and anxiety they will report stress.

My wife and I are lucky. We work doing what we love and have the added benefit of running our own business and managing our own diaries to fit in with the needs of family and how we want to balance our lives.

But it hasn't always been like that.

There have been times when we've been extremely stressed out. Juggling a career, bringing up four...