ILOC, Bottlenecks and Procrastination
There is always something within your ownership and influence. This is the mindset of the Internal Locus of Control or ILOC.
A concept central to any form of career success is that of taking ownership for the outcome and not waiting for others to drive the agenda. Whilst you might not always be able to fully control or impact the situation there is always something within your ownership and influence. This is the mindset of the Internal Locus of Control or ILOC.
A locus of control orientation is a belief about whether the outcomes of our actions are contingent on what we do (internal control orientation) or on events outside our personal control (external control orientation).” (Zimbardo, 1985,)
Originally made popular in the terrific The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey where he talks about how having a proactive focus allows you to expand your circle of influence and progressively take more and more control of your path forward.
Proactive people, on the other hand, spend more time focusing on their Circle of Influence. When you focus on things you have control over, you see that your actions affect the world, which is empowering. That feeling of empowerment impels you to take more action, which causes you to feel more empowered, which causes you to take more action.
Focusing on your Circle of Influence creates a virtuous cycle of action that not only leads to positive change on the items originally in that Circle, but broadens what can be encompassed within it. As you take more action, you gain more competency. And increased competency allows you to have more influence on the world around you. Things that were formerly just in your Circle of Concern will be now be added to your Circle of Influence.
Focusing on your Circle of Influence increases your Circle of Influence.
Sentis have picked up this concept through their ZIP training outlining how you can manage your ILOC.
- Set A GOAL. Clearly identify a realistic goal (result) that you want to achieve.
- WHAT’S IN YOUR control? Identify what you can control in relation to the outcome, as well as what you can influence.
- Choose YOUR ATTITUDE. Consider the helpful attitude or Frame that will help you achieve your goal.
- Identify A PLAN OF ACTION. Break your goal down into small steps and identify specific strategies that you can implement.
An interesting link is made by Dan Sullivan between things we procrastinate about and things that lay outside our internal locus of control. He points out that the very act of procrastination should not be seen as a negative thing but rather a flag that waves toward areas we should think twice about moving toward. The very fact we are procrastinating suggests an opportunity to review whether we want to bring the item into our sphere of control, or delegate or delete it from our life.
“Procrastination is the bell that goes off, suddenly alerting you to the fact that you’ve just visualised something that’s bigger and better than your existing levels of capability and confidence. It lets you know that you need to approach the situation differently and that you’ve been challenged to get smarter with regard to it.”
“[The] anxiety you experience when you’re procrastinating will disappear the moment you simply tell the truth about why you’re not moving forward and discover the essential answer as to why you’re procrastinating.
The reason usually falls into one or more of the following categories:
- You’ve become aware of the fact that you need a higher confidence level to achieve the result.
- You need more capability than you presently have.
- You don’t have enough time because your future time, leading up to the goal, is already accounted for by your present activities.
- You’re confronted with the fact that the capabilities and time required to get things done means teamwork with others, and you have a deficiency of teamwork right now.”
Excerpt From: Dan Sullivan. “Procrastination Priority.”
Generally when we are procrastinating we are being the bottleneck in our work — the ability to get to the next outcomes rest solely within our capability. Don’t be the bottleneck!
A neat tool developed by Sullivan through the Joy of Procrastination podcast is the Procrastination priority Rubric. Review your score and see how you can harness procrastination and expand your circle of influence.
