An Essential Element of a Winning Mindset

Mindset makes a huge difference to the way you lead your life. Successful people have an entirely different mindset from that of mediocre people. Here is a key psychological element of a winning mindset which is known as Locus of Control.

The concept of Locus of Control reveals the extent to which people consider themselves responsible for their destiny. Which means, it determines your control over the events and activities that happen in your life. Julian Rotter discovered the Locus of Control Test in 1950’s.

A person can either have “Internal” or “External” locus of control. If you have the internal locus of control, it means that you believe in yourself more than others. You think that the outcomes of various things will depend on the action you take. Thus, you will prepare a plan, work hard, and be more confident in facing the challenges. If you win, you will feel good about yourself whereas, in the case of failure, you will find the reason for failure and work to improve yourself. However, if you have the external locus of control, then it means you believe that external forces are responsible for most of the things that happen to you. External forces could be anything such as luck, God, other people, etc. Thus, you will thank God (and others) for your successes and blame others for your failures.

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In the real world, both, external as well as internal factors are responsible for a majority of the events. However, high achievers usually have the internal locus of control. Take this test to know which type of locus of control do you have. Thank yourself if you have the internal locus of control. Start implementing your plans rigorously and make sure that you focus on doing things rather that just thinking and conceptualizing. Get into the action and achieve your next goals.

If you have the external locus of control, you need to work on your thought process and mindset. To develop a winning mindset, take a baby step at a time. Thinking and behavior don’t change overnight. Move one step further every day, and in a few months, you will see a dramatic improvement in various things around you.

You can’t control everything in the world. However, you need to understand that your actions and reactions are only yours. So, if you feel that you are unlucky, or others have betrayed you, then start focusing on your response to the situations. Think about the better possible reactions and how it could have altered the situation in your favor. Convince yourself, that you need to build internal locus of control and be responsible for everything that happens to you. Start believing in yourself and your actions. Accept the failures and evaluate the reasons that led to the failure. Control your emotions and think before reacting to external circumstances.

Changing the mindset is hard. However, the power of iteration and incremental improvement will help you develop a mindset which will make you an ultimate winner.