The difference between great people and everyone else
Locus of control refers to the "locus" (location) in which an event is controlled. It can be in one of two locations:
A person may indeed be in control of his own future, fate, relationships, friendships, happiness, patience, abilities, successes, and failures. Such a well-adjusted person may claim that the control over events is within himself, and that he has an internal locus of control.
Another person may claim to be controlled by others. He is like a puppet or a marionette who has little or no say in what happens to them or to their surroundings. He has an external locus of control.
Locus of control is rarely absolute. People generally do not have a complete, 100% internal (or external) locus of control. The situation is usually somewhere in between. Some activities or events of those people are controlled by others, while other activities and events are controlled by themselves.
People who interact with each other do not necessarily have the same perception or feeling about each other's locus of control. The difference in attributing locus of control often creates interesting situations - and it keeps counselors on their toes.
is that great people create their lives actively,
while everyone else is created by their lives,
passively waiting to see where life takes them next.
The difference between the two
is the difference between living fully
and just existing.
- Michael Gerber
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