## Overview A Polish proverb (*nie mój cyrk, nie moje małpy*) meaning: **that's not my problem, and I'm not getting involved.** A boundary-setting principle for selectively declining engagement in dramas and problems that aren't yours to solve. The circus is chaotic and entertaining to watch — but if it isn't yours, watching costs attention, energy, and time that belong elsewhere. ## Core Principle - **What's yours**: problems you have the authority, responsibility, or capacity to act on - **What's not yours**: problems you can observe but cannot meaningfully change - **The trap**: watching feels productive — you're "aware" — but it consumes attention with no possibility of resolution ## Cross-Domain Applications - **Professional** — a cross-team project off the rails that someone else owns. Stay informed, yes; take over their monkeys, no (unless explicitly asked). - **Household & Parenting** — kids' squabbles that resolve when adults don't intervene; a spouse's project that needs support, not rescue. Test: am I needed, or does the chaos just draw me in? - **Knowledge Work** — not every trending topic or Slack fire is yours. Operationalizes [[Signal vs Noise Focus]] at the engagement level. ## Connections - [[Permission-Seeking as Eunuch Disease]] — opposite pole: taking on others' problems unasked - [[Internal vs External Obstacles]] — heuristic for sorting internal (yours) from external (not yours) - [[Commitment Honesty Principle]] — not overcommitting means not adding others' monkeys to your load - [[Focus and Attention Management]] — the circus is noise; the proverb is a filter - [[Non-Linear Time Management]] — "Not now" applies to others' problems too - [[Attention as Currency]] — the circus is the "Other People's Emergencies" attention trap; declining it protects the scarce currency --- *Source: [[Nie Mój Cyrk, Nie Moje Małpy (Polish Proverb)]] — popularized via boundary-setting frameworks*