Internal Locus of Control
When working in the corporate world, one of our leaders shared the following story:
Each year, her husband would forget her birthday.
As a result, she would feel mad/sad/annoyed.
This happened, on repeat, for many years.
Finally, she realized that she could positively impact this situation.
She started putting a post-it on the fridge to say, “it's my birthday!” or, “tomorrow is my birthday!”
Her husband was happy; he now felt successful in remembering this important day.
She was happy; she no longer felt sad or frustrated or mad on her birthday.
Everybody won.
As we enter the new year, we might think about other opportunities to shift toward an internal locus of control.
Rather than waiting for outside forces, circumstances, or people to change, where can we create something different instead?
This doesn't mean that we shouldn't work to shift or change broken systems or structures, of course. But it means that oftentimes, there is something we can do —even if that something is as small as a post-it on the fridge. It aligns with a key idea within Expansive Impact, which is looking in the mirror versus out the window.
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