Thought Tweet #865

Thought Tweet #865 Listen to what people say...are their words the words of Victims or Initiators?

The Thinking Behind The Tweet

We do better with people when we understand them...as Stephen Covey taught - 'Seek First to Understand'.

We all go through ups and downs and the ups and downs can skew our day-to-day personalities. So, yes - it is rash to judge personality too quickly.

Setting day-to-day variances aside, we all have predominant tendencies. While we do not want to pretend we are armchair psychologists, our success in this world of other people increases when we observe people and develop an ability to understand them.

And, people do have predominant tendencies. One of those tendencies has been captured by psychologists and labelled locus of control. Some of us 'have' an internal locus of control while some of us 'have' an external locus of control. People who 'have' the internal locus of control believe they can affect change and outcomes. They tend to be Initiators. People who 'have' the external locus of control believe they have little ability to influence change or outcomes. They are fatalists or Victims. 

Victims tend to complain about their lot in life. Victims tend to blame others. Victims tend to blame situations. Victims are pessimistic. Victims make excuses. [Feelings of envy and jealousy hang around the shadows of Victims.]

Initiators are the opposite.

[Give Victims comfort. Give Initiators latitude.]