The Curse of an External Locus of Control

"A person with an internal locus of control believes that he or she can influence events and their outcomes, while someone with an external locus of control blames outside forces for everything. This concept was brought to light in the 1950's by Julian Rotter."

 Being a huge Marilyn Monroe fan, I'm always intrigued by what draws me to her.  The main factor is her ability to market her brand and do it well.  That brand included the god given good looks and genetics coupled with the drive to market those assets in the fields of modeling and acting.  It captured the public's imagination in the 1950's.  With all great strengths, come weakness.  The lesson Marilyn taught me is that you will fail if your primary reinforcement comes from others rather than yourself.  It's the battle of having an internal versus external locus of control.  The internal is self reinforcing while the external relies on outside forces to determine one's worth.  This carries over into our personal and business lives.  Who doesn't want to be liked? Who doesn't want to be accepted?  How hard is it to believe you can accomplish something even when those closest to you believe you can't?  Developing an internal locus of control is as close to self actualization as I can imagine.  It takes work.  So how can we develop this skillset which equates to not only peace of mind but confidence and sustainable career success?  Below are some tips from "The Positive Encourager".  Strive to believe in yourself.  It's all you really have.

Questions That Can Help A Person
To Focus On Their Inner Strength

When have you shown positive spirit? When have you overcome difficult challenges successfully? When have you performed superb work? When have you achieved peak performance?

What did you do right then? What were the principles you followed? What did you actually to do to reach your goals? How can you follow some of these principles in the future?

Bearing in mind the challenge you face now, how can you build on what you know works? You have succeeded in the past. How can you follow some of those principles – plus maybe add other skills – to tackle this challenge?

Looking ahead, what is the first goal you want to achieve? What will be the benefits of achieving the goal? How can you do your best to achieve the goal? How can you get an early success?

Looking further ahead, what are the key strategies you can follow to give yourself the greatest chance of success? How can you encourage yourself on the journey? How can you focus on getting three successes each day?