Stephen Covey wrote a book called The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People where he talked about how to increase your circle (sphere) of influence.  There are things outside of our sphere of influence that we can't control.  But there is also a sphere we can control and EXPAND our control by practicing four (4) things:  What can we START doing, What can we do MORE of, What can we STOP doing and what can we do LESS of in order to get ahead.  Starting and doing More are two positives actions we can take.  Stop and Less are actions we need to cease or reduce order to be more efficient and effective.