> I don't even know what this is supposed to mean. It sounds like something you'd hear at a bad self-help seminar.
The locus of control is a psychology term[0]: "referring to the extent to which individuals believe that they can control events that affect them."
I've had many peers growing up who had an entirely different attitude from me regarding what was within an individual's control and what was not. Many people hide behind the circumstances that they have been dealt without acknowledging that it is possible to change them. They simply give up and choose to see no path forward.
But do you realize that this (subjective) locus of control is also, at least to a degree, part of your skill set. I have problems with statements like 'they give up and choose to see no path forward', because it seems to imply that somehow they're lazy, or dumb, or whatever. It's a step away from 'poor people are poor because they're lazy'.
I am very 'entrepreneurially-inclined', but I have no illusion that this is all my choice or doing. I just happened to have certain personality traits, and the right ones have been developed through my unconventional upbringing and schooling.
I understand what you are saying, but for some people pointing this out doesn't do much. They need to be taught and encouraged to understand that they have more control than they think.
The locus of control is a psychology term[0]: "referring to the extent to which individuals believe that they can control events that affect them."
I've had many peers growing up who had an entirely different attitude from me regarding what was within an individual's control and what was not. Many people hide behind the circumstances that they have been dealt without acknowledging that it is possible to change them. They simply give up and choose to see no path forward.
[0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locus_of_control