Ever felt like you have no control over your life? Ever felt like your fate is predetermined? Ever felt like every bad thing that happens to you is meant to be, and that they will be unpreventable. You, my friend, need a little bit of locus of control training.

What is a locus of control

A locus of control, plural loci of control, is the amount someone thinks they have control over their life. Loci of control can be organized into two groups: internal and external.

Internal vs external locus of control

An external locus of control means the person having believes fate decides their life, are afraid to criticize anything, trusts the status quo almost completely, is unwilling to make a difference, and believes every bad thing that happens to them is cause by an event outside their control. They take few opportunities and follow rather than lead. They also have a high likelihood of facing the comfort zone death spiral, which is a particularly dangerous event. I’ll talk more about that in a future article. Not to mention, they generally end up disliking the jobs they force themselves into.

An internal locus of control is the opposite, meaning the person believes they control their destiny, they are comfortable to criticize the status quo, they seek to make a difference in the world, and takes ownership for the bad things that happen to them. They lead others to fulfill their cause. They experiene growth, rather than shrinking, along with feeling happier and satisfied with life.

What locus of control do I have?

There are many tests out there that test for what people’s locus of control are. However, I’m going to present the test I made, and I believe you should use this because it takes a slightly different approach for finding out someone’s locus of control. For each question, write down the number from 1-5 as the degree to which you agree to the question, where 1 is strongly disagree and 5 is strongly agree. Add them up at the end and see what locus of control. And most importantly, be honest. Here it is:

1. You said something to someone and they were noticeably hurt. You would apologize to them as soon as possible.
2. You have goals for each week/month/year, and you make a conscious effort to achieve them.
3. You try endlessly to shape the world to your desire.
4. You stay true to who you are.
5. You take all safe and reasonable opportunities given to you and (bonus if it applies to you) you desire to lead whoever leads you.

Now, let’s see what locus of control you have: 5-9: Firmly External 😭 10-14: External 😔 15-19: Internal 🙂 20-24: Firmly Internal 😃 25: Astronomically Internal 😆

How to improve

The way to improve in a general way would be the following: First, begin to apologize more and take more ownership of your actions. Then, begin making plans for what you want to do in your life, career, and begin setting goals. Next, think before you dismiss an opportunity or someone else’s opinion. It might just set you on the way to success. Also, putting more effort and going above and beyond should be incorporated too. Once you’ve got there, you can now build leadership attributes and become a good leader. I recommend the book ‘The Six Attributes of a Leadership Mindset’ by Joe Britto to help you on this step. After that, strive for success and better self-esteem. Finally, learn to criticize the world around you more, and take less things for granted. The world desperately needs more brave critics and activists to help change the world.

Conclusion

I’ve been rambling on and on, but now it’s time to tell you directly why you should strive for a 25 on that test. Firstly, it serves as one of the key pillars to a good life. You have to be in control of your destiny. Not fate, destiny. If you are in control, you can earn more money by being more likely to be promoted. If you are in control, you can find out what your true passion is and how to achieve it. If you are in control, you can shape the world to a better place. If you are in control, you will find out the meaning of your life.

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