Third Circle Theory, by Pejman Ghadimi, is adored by many entrepreneurs because its core foundation has no relevance to what one should do to be successful but rather the foundation someone needs to get where they want to be.
Regardless of what success means to you..
Let me break down the 3 circles Pejman highlights in the book:
- The First Circle represents 8 slices of a pie as well as a center dot (it represents who you are.)
Now you are a by-product of your environment; where you were originally born. You have no choice in the money and the circumstances you were born into. You’re obligated to go into the beliefs of your family at an early age. Essentially our belief systems are born into the first circle as well as our fears and how we perceive society.
2. The Second Circle only has 6 slices of the pie. It signifies the next step we take in our lives. This is when we become curious about society and why we believe in what we believe.
A small % of you will move through the second circle. This is where you’ll start gaining expertise and understand the systems of how the world works and how to use them for success. You understand where you fit into the world and your experience for your benefit and maybe the benefit of others.
The second circle is still self-centered and the world still circles the individual and what they can accomplish. People in this circle are often highly skilled and are considered experts in that field + looked up as leaders.
3. The Third Circle- It isn’t until people graduate to the third circle that they realize what their purpose in life is.
You’ll notice that in the third circle, you’re outside the circle meaning that you’re able to expand your perspective instead of seeing what’s in front of you (without being so self-centered). This is where you get the ability that others can’t which is to innovate. Innovate the world around you and better the systems and processes that society uses every day.
The difference between the people in the second and the third circle is that they are much more selfless. They are so comfortable within that can see beyond themselves and the systems of the world. And because they can look at the broader view, they have an opportunity to change the world.
Moving through the first circle
Mastery of Circumstances
- Understand your Environment: Your environment (socioeconomic status, family background, and education) should not limit you.
- Overcome Limitations: You need to challenge your beliefs and the limitations imposed by your initial circumstances and be open to new ones.
- Choices Exist: You have the choice to move beyond the first circle and do need to get over the fear of taking action. As you face your beliefs, you gain more confidence and it is this confidence that will help you build that momentum.
- Maintain your Entourage: In the first circle, it is anyone you’re hanging out with. As you start moving beyond the first circle, you’ll want to have friends, and mentors who will push you to be better. Mostly people in the first circle like to stay with people who make them feel smarter and comfortable about themselves but you need to move beyond your comfort zone.
- No Time Excuse: In the first circle you often think you don’t have enough time. If you want to move beyond the first circle, understand that time can be leveraged using efficiency, technology, and other people. Most importantly, if you use time efficiently there’ll be plenty of things you can accomplish.
Moving through the second circle
Mastery of Society
- Change Your Perception of Self: You need to change your perception of the entire system and look beyond yourself.
- Understand Education: This is where you move beyond the formal education system moving beyond frivolous thinking and believing in everything you hear. You understand systems and put the concepts together.
- Gain Money: You then use these systems and your built expertise to gain money. You use it in a more selfless way to move beyond the second circle.
- Have Beneficial Habits: You need to know habits that make you effective and allow you to welcome success in your life. To move past this circle, you need to develop habits that help you move beyond yourself like empathy.
- Managing Emotions: People in the second circle are still highly emotional and are dictated by their felt emotions. Moving beyond this circle implies developing emotional intelligence and understanding the emotions of others and our own emotions so we can manage them better.
- Take a Leadership Position: Often in the second circle, leaders are manipulative for their gain. Moving beyond this circle implies that leadership is an opportunity for change for everyone.
Moving through the third circle
Mastery of Life
- Understand Lifestyle: As you move through the third circle you understand that lifestyle allows you to experience more. People in this circle are not afraid of changing their lifestyle dramatically to push themselves further.
- Build a Tremendous Vision: As you begin to see beyond yourself you are in a position to create a vision for a broader group of people to give back without expecting anything in return. People in the third circle try to create a lasting impact in some way. People think entrepreneurship is all about making money but it could also be about creating lasting change for the good of society.
- Create a Legacy: Now because of the lasting change that third circle people create, they build a legacy. You don’t have to be famous or ridiculously wealthy to be in the third circle but you do have to understand that you can give more and more to the society.
Final Thoughts..
The book promotes thinking about others and knowing yourself well. It measures success based on things that are obtainable whether you have money or not. Essentially viewing the world in a way that both reduces drama (because you take yourself out of the equation) and gives you a purpose to make a difference in those around you.
I appreciate the mindset of simplifying money as a means to an end (focus on far more important things) rather than an end-in-itself.
There is some golden advice for people who are just starting out and for ones in the middle of it. 😉