Locus of Control is one of the best things I have ever learnt in my life. I have made this one of my philosophies that I live by every minute of every day.
I have trained thousands of people on this principal and can save people’s lives with it.
Most executives and business women say they are flat out, busy, no time, stressed, anxious, worrying all the time about everything. So I like to address this issue really early, with my clients.
If you think about some things that you have control over. For example your attitude, your mindset, yourself. Now think about some things you have influence over. For example “others and the way they think about your idea”. Now get clear about things you have no control over. For example traffic, weather, politics, various processes and systems in your organisation.
The aim of this exercise is to grow your locus of control and your influencing skills, while reducing the time wasted on things you can’t control or influence. Ideally, you should get the no control area down to 5% of energy wasted. Only focusing on what you can control and influence.
This concept is how I run my life. It is one of my philosophies of life. I check in every time I need to make a decision or make a move in business. I also use it for my personal life, so I don’t turn into a drama queen and waste time ranting and raving about stuff I don’t have any control over or influence to change.
This helps you to start to realise where you are wasting your energy and time. Have a think about how much energy is wasted over a year, with things you can’t control or influence. That is how much energy you will get back.
These days, people think they are so flat out. Busy being busy. It is a competition now, how busy people are. If we are all so busy, who has got the time to waste on things we can’t control or influence? Put your energy into stuff you can control and reduce your wastage over time.
Usually my clients get back about 40% of their time and energy, just with this principal alone. It takes time to master. You get better and better at it. Now it is the way my brain processes everything, against this principal.
I ask myself, what can I control in this situation? What can I influence? What do I have no control or influence over? I don’t waste any time these days.
I hope this changes your life, as much as it changed mine.