The means by which we achieve our desired states like pleasure, happiness and satisfaction, are the properties that we can directly influence.  Manageable properties are intrinsic and naturally belong in our lives.  A symbol of this is the center of a wheel.  By directly affecting the hub, we move all  attached to that hub.  And the result as we turn this wheel is that we move the vehicle of our life to where we need to go.  The things at the center of our wheels are the critical items in our life which include our body, mind, values and attention.  These things are of the utmost importance and likewise valued highly.  Other things clustered about our center are what we have grown attached to either consciously or unconsciously like our family, beliefs, friends and various daily interactions or routines.  These are the things that have significant impact on our life and can take on just about any form that directly relates to our environment.

There are also those manageable properties that require specific actions to control and whose variation directly affect us.  Examples of key manageable properties may include our kids, the emotional state of our significant other and our personal energy levels.  These key characteristics are the spokes that hold the structure of the wheels of our lives and thus have a high personal value to us.  Like the critical items, they can take on just about any form that relates to our environment.  As an example, my daughter has a list of chores with different values associated with some of the tasks.  She initially focused on those things that were easier to do.  However, her initial earnings were low and did not make the progress she wanted to her goals of having enough money to purchase what she wanted.  I resorted the list with her so that she could easily see those items where she could make more money.  She not only did the easy things but chose some of the harder things so that she had a larger impact on her savings.  This is just one example that shows we have to sometimes restructure how we look at the properties in our life.  By focusing on the manageable properties like which chores earn more impact, the emergent property of saving for a big purchase is more readily attainable.   Paying attention to manageable properties brings more value to our lives.  With proper understanding of the manageable elements in our life we are more effective and efficient at achieving our objectives.