Shifting your Locus Of Control: The obvious way to deal with Shit
The new age litmus test to know if you are in this for the infinite game.
Let me be brutally honest with you now. Yup, the job market sucks more than ever before. You may already be on the list of “to be laid-off employees” in your multinational corporate.
But, does that make life less worthy of living? If you think it’s all grim and bite your fingers in anxiety seeing all the bad news out there, you should be asking one Big Question to your self.
Is the world full of shit or is it me?
This could be one of the simplest yet painstaking tests you could take right now to identify where you stand with your ‘Locus of Control’. The term might seem fancy, but everyone has their own locus of control: reasons that either make or break you in your pursuit for higher responsibility.
The world is changing drastically and you know it! The probability of you staying ahead of the change depends on how quickly you can shift your locus of control.
So what’s a LOC?
Locus of Control is an idea that helps people determine whether they look within or outward while working for favorable outcomes in any task. LOCs are of two types:
- Internal LOC
- External LOC
Simply put, it is the attitude you take when you end up with a flat car tire in the morning. Especially, when you are already late to the office, and you have a board meeting in the morning. You could either curse and get into a fight with your neighbor for leaving scraps around your gate or call a cab and leave that scene for the better. Identifying your locus can be a lifesaver.
You are beginning to see where I’m going with this, aren’t you?
The path from a victim to a stoic looks something like this: you shift your locus of control from outward to inward, but in a constructive way. It does not mean you now have to take the blame for other’s mistakes.
Instead, you now look for features where you can improve or even change the conditions around you to get a positive outcome. This is especially relevant now as the economy is taken for a toss, thanks to Covid-19.
People have started blaming everything from bad timing to loathsome CEOs. But the truth is, this pandemic is a real litmus test for us to find out the difference between where we are and what our real potential is.
Where is your LOC right now?
Let me point out a few scenarios and see whether you can find where you are in the LOC test: Imagine you are stuck in your career within a toxic team. You often end up wasting your time and energy in endless frustrations and gossips. You desire a change for good, but you feel frozen and wasted in life. What would you do:
a. Blame your teammates for making work hard?
b. Think of colleagues as no-brainers and continue anyway?
c. Start figuring out what’s wrong and how to fix them?
d. Start dropping your resumes to other HR inboxes and enroll in a new skill development path?
Honestly, the first two options are easier, don’t you think? Something you could vent out during smoke breaks or occasional hush talk. In that case, your Locus of Control is external.
But, what did you think of the last two options? Seems tough?
That’s because it is! All great changes usually seem tough and require some effort and responsibility to navigate through. If you willingly take this up on your own, then you have successfully shifted your locus of control to internal.
Your locus of control is a mindset that organically grew inside you through exposure to experiences. As your brain tries to keep you away from bad experiences, you normalize some actions or thoughts, and your locus shifts to the external. The moment you decide to take responsibility for your self, the locus starts shifting towards the internal.
Shifting for the better
See, I am not advocating you to call it quits on your current job or fabricate theatrical moments of epiphany in your family. Shifting your locus of control can be as subtle as making the choice for calling a cab when your car tire ditches you. It is not something that will require you to backpack to the mountains. All you need to do is make educated guesses on how your actions could in any way improve the chances of generating productive outcomes.
Have a shitty boss? Great! You are presented with a very good reason to upskill and move on from his team.
Troubled by pessimism around your workplace? Even better! Time to have a face to face conversation with your colleagues and taking a stand for your self — you get the idea, don’t you?
Mentors could be of great help here, someone you genuinely think is doing good and looks out for your interests. This could be anyone — your best friend, CEO, managers, or someone whom you see is working to better something. Of course, there are YouTube gurus to help you in this, but the best way still would be to talk to people and observe their responses objectively. You’ll soon realize how much of an internal or external person you are at the moment. Let that be the starting point of the locus shift.
In all respect, realizing your LOC is the first major step in making your shift, as there will no longer be the urge to stay in jeopardy but to make choices for better outcomes. Take every chance you get to meet interesting people who are ready to share knowledge with you. Chances are, they have already made their shifts into the internal mode and want to better their understanding of their world.
In conclusion
A lot of options are already out of the window, and all I am asking you is to clear the mist in your glasses and see them properly. It all comes down to your resolve and your outlook towards things — a true measure of your LOC. No matter what your conditions are, knowing that there is always a better way to deal with shit and coin opportunities out of it is nothing short of a life jacket.
In a nutshell — It’s your journey from Oh Shit! to Oh Wow! Choose wisely.
Hope I helped.
