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Locus of control

what part of this is on me

Locus of control is whether you attribute outcomes primarily to your own action or to outside forces. An internal locus predicts persistence and better health outcomes; an external one predicts learned helplessness. It is a habit of attribution, not a fixed trait.

What to do about it

For any setback, name the one part that was inside your control. Start there.

Books that work on this

Each is a 90-day programme. Start with the first — later books assume the work in the earlier ones.

Part of the Discipline series.

How people say it

Nobody looks this up by its clinical name. These are the ways it actually gets said.

  • everything happens to me
  • nothing is in my control
  • blaming other people for my life
  • taking responsibility for my situation
  • I feel powerless
  • what part of this is on me
  • victim mentality
  • learned helplessness

Written by Brian Spiker, who has run Spiker Carpet and Tile Care since 2013 — the receipts. More terms in the encyclopedia.

About the author

Brian Spiker has run Spiker Carpet and Tile Care since 2013 — a real service business with real customers, real Google reviews, and 13 years of work most self-help authors will never do.

He writes the way operators talk: brutal, funny, and built from work that actually has to get done. Verify everything at spikercarpetandtilecare.com.