The degree to which people believe that they are in control of the things that impact their life. Internal Locus of Control relates to the belief that personal circumstances are a result of one's own actions; conversely External Locus of Control relates to the belief that personal circumstances are largely due to external forces.
Example: A student with a strong internal locus of control will attribute good or bad grades to their own efforts.
Reference: Research from Charles Krulak: successful marines were those with a strong internal locus of control - a belief that they could influence their own destiny through choices.
Reference: Carol Dweck: "Internal locus of control is a learned skill".
Insight: Research suggests that people with internal locus of control praise or blame themselves for success or failure, rather than things outside of their control.
Insight: Internal locus of control is linked to higher academic success and self-control, and lower stress and depression.
Insight: Strong internal locus of control tends to lead to higher earnings, longer marriages, greater happiness.
Insight: Strong external locus of control is correlated with higher stress.
Insight: Locus of control can be influenced by training and feedback. Complementing students for hard work reinforces that they can control their outcomes and tends to activate an internal locus of control. Complementing abilities or intelligence activates an external locus of control.
Principle: Strengthen internal locus of control through rewarding initiative, self-motivation, stubbornness, working hard.
Definition: Understanding and separating what you can control from what you can't.
Example: Controlling weight: a focus on what you can control - eating healthy food, regular exercise - and the weight will manage itself.
Insight: Regretting actions in the past is pointless as changing the past is outside our locus of control.
Insight: Worrying about things that are outside your control is a waste of time and energy.
Insight: The more effective we are at separating when we can control from what we can't, the happier and more productive we are.
Principle: Make personal goals related to actions that are within your control.
Principle: Focus on what you can control. Let everything else go.
Definition: The place (locus) where people feel in control of each aspect of their life.
Insight: Feeling of control is an important element in human performance and happiness.
Insight: The feeling that personal decisions influence the direction of our lives is considered 'internal locus of control'. The feeling that external factors control our lives is considered 'external locus of control'.
Insight: People with internal locus of control tend to be higher performers, and have lower levels of stress. People with external locus of control tend to be lower performers with higher stress levels.
Insight: People that have high internal locus of control believe they are in control and make things happen. People that have high external locus of control believe things are outside their control.
Insight: External locus of control leads to greater anxiety. Internal locus of control makes people more confident, and skeptical of authority.
Reference: 1983 study by Jerome Tobacyk and Gary Milford: people with a high external locus of control are more prone to believing in witchcraft, spiritualism, and superstition.
Insight: Internal locus of control: people that feel in charge of their life, make their own decision, and responsible for actions and outcomes. External locus of control: people that feel controlled by other people or factors.
Insight: People with an external locus of control often feel like a prisoner of external forces, face higher rates of depression.
Insight: We can develop a stronger internal locus of control by spending efforts to manage our time and calendar more effectively.
Insight: Those with external locus of control often assume that they cannot control outcomes in their lives, those with internal locus of control view themselves as the source of their success or failure.
Insight: Taking responsibility for financial outcomes and acting accordingly can positively influence wealth and our lives.
Insight: Internal locus of control - people rely on themselves for gains and losses in life; external locus of control - people blame others for outcomes.
Insight: People that take responsibility are more successful. Taking responsibility is a choice.
Insight: People feel happy to the degree to which they feel they are in control of their life.
Definition: Your locus of control is where you feel control exists in each area of life.
Insight: Having a functional workspace (locus of control) is important - it is from where we can control our outcomes.
Key Insights & Principles
Personal Growth
An internal locus of control means to feel in control of the outcomes in our life, an external locus of control means to feel out of control.
Internal locus of control is a learned skill, that can also be cultivated by rewarding effort rather than ability or intelligence.
People with a strong internal locus of control usually experience better outcomes in work and life.
Cultivate internal locus of control through rewarding initiative, and hard work.
Focus on what you can control. Let everything else go.
Make personal goals related to actions that are within your control.
Make efforts to manage your calendar and time most effectively.
Happiness
The feeling of control is an important element in human happiness.
People with a strong internal locus of control usually experience less stress and anxiety compared with people with a strong external locus of control.
Focus on what you can control. Let everything else go.
