No, not belly buttons! I’m talking about
something called internal or external locus of control. Here’s what I mean.
After hustling and trying to change my
day job, in 2017 I got an offer to teach some professional development classes.
They offered me 3 classes for that semester, but due to circumstances, I could
only teach one of them. Three classes and my side hustle would bring a good
income, plus a flexible schedule. But one class wasn’t enough money.
Disappointed, I turned down that job
offer. I thought to myself, you could’ve
taken the job if you had a decent savings! Things would’ve been fine until they
offered you more classes.
This story sounds sad, but it was actually
amazing because for the first time, I realized how my actions could create a different
outcome. I saw how my spending habits had led to what happened. The bad
situation hadn’t fallen on me at random. If I could learn smart savings habits,
I could change the outcome of my situation.
Locus of control is a common term in
psychology. I think it has to do with how empowered we feel in our life to make
things turn out for the better. Internal or external influence? Innie or outie?
Understanding the connections between our own choices and our life’s outcomes
can motivate us to make better choices.
I was reading some how to make your blog interesting so that people wanna read it posts.
They say find your audience, like, who you connect with, and write to them. But
whether you’re a mom or whatever status, like double-income-no-kids,
single-income-with-kids, budget-phobe or penny pincher, I think ideas are
universal. If you’ve ever struggled to take good advice and thought, I know what to do, why can’t I do it?
then you can relate to what I’m writing about.
So many of us go through life spending thoughtlessly,
without grasping that even small actions can affect our life! So much comes out
of those daily little decisions. They’re choices! I didn’t understand that in
the past, but I’m learning.
I’ve been learning about mindset, habits,
and the FI (Financial Independence) lifestyle. As I write more, I’d like to
share the blog posts, podcast episodes and books that helped me the most, and
why. I want to thank the authors for their advice and tell them how much it’s
helping. Have you read something recently that’s helped you?
