Paragraph 7

The article advised me to draw two big circles, with myself in the center.

The smaller circle is my circle of influence,
and I have direct control over the things inside it:

what I eat and
drink, how I behave, or what I do after school.

The bigger circle is
called my circle of concern:

things I worry about but have no direct
control over.

For example, I have no direct control over how my
professor will react to my report, but I do have control over the
amount of research I do for it.

Believing that everything was in my
circle of influence left me stressed out and constantly exhausted.

By wasting less energy on my circle of concern, I was able to
invest more energy into things that mattered.

I no longer worry
about what my friends think, and I focus on my own actions.

I
don’t get anxious over what might be on the test, and instead I put
in every effort to understand the concepts themselves.

Now, I only
put my mental and physical energy into my circle of influence:

eating healthy, staying in shape, and working hard.

The article advised me to draw two big circles, with myself in the center.

<advise + A + to-V>는 ‘A에게 ~을 하라고 조언하다’라는 뜻으로, advise 뒤에 오는 A가 to부정사의 주체가 된다.

The smaller circle is my circle of influence, and I have direct control over the things inside it: what I eat and drink, how I behave, or what I do after school.

<what/how + 주어 + 동사>는 ‘~하는 것’, ‘~하는 방식’이라는 뜻으로, the things inside it의 구체적인 내용을 의미한다.

The bigger circle is called my circle of concern: things (which / that) I worry about but have no direct control over.

things와 I 사이에는 목적격 관계대명사 which 또는 that이 생략되었다. 이 목적격 관계대명사는 뒤에 나오는 동사구의 전치사 about과 over의 목적어 역할을 한다.

For example, I have no direct control over how my professor will react to my report, but I do have control over the amount of research (which / that) I do for it.

조동사 do는 뒤의 동사 have의 의미를 강조하는 역할을 한다.

research와 I 사이에는 목적격 관계대명사 which 또는 that이 생략되었다.

Believing that everything was in my circle of influence left me stressed out and constantly exhausted.

명사절 that ~ influence는 문장의 주어인 동명사 Believing의 목적어이고, 동사는 left이다.

By wasting less energy on my circle of concern, I was able to invest more energy into things that mattered.

주격 관계대명사절 that mattered는 앞에 나온 선행사 things를 수식한다.

I no longer worry about what my friends think, and I focus on my own actions.

what my friends think은 about의 목적어 역할을 하는 명사절이다.

I don’t get anxious over what might be on the test, and instead I put in every effort to understand the concepts themselves.

what might be on the test는 over의 목적어 역할을 하는 명사절이다.

재귀대명사 themselves 는 앞에 the concepts를 강조한다.

Now, I only put my mental and physical energy into my circle of influence: eating healthy, staying in shape, and working hard.

<put + energy + into + A>는 ‘A에 에너지를 쏟다’라는 뜻이다.

· matter

= be important
= have influence

All