Who's in Charge?

I finished reading Blue Zones--9 Lessons for Living Longer from the people who've lived the longest last night.  It has left me pondering two questions.  I will explore one today, and I'll save the other for tomorrow's post. I'd like to start with "locus of control." The textbook that I used to teach organizational behavior defines "locus of control" as "the degree to which people believe they are masters of their own fate."*

What the textbook says, and what I taught, is that if a person believes their success is internally driven, called "internal," they are more highly motivated and willing to take action to make things happen in their lives. They generally perform better on the job, demonstrating their belief that they are the ones that influence career success. Internals believe their health is largely in their hands, and they take steps to stay healthy. Consequently, they have lower rates of absenteeism.

By contrast, "externals" believe that some force outside of themselves determines their fate.  In that case, they are not inclined to take steps to advance their careers or their lives.  Why would they, since they don't believe that anything they do, for good or not, can change the course of their lives?  They generally aren't engaged in their work and are less satisfied in their career and life in general.

Many externals believe that God or some other outside force is piloting the ship of their destiny, but many internals attribute God's desire for us to experience abundance to the reason they are in charge of their destiny.  Prosperity gospel churches and Mastermind groups are examples of the latter group.

The uncomfortable juxtaposition of these ideas has been on my heart for decades.  I am all about intention, which might lean to internal locus of control, but I clearly believe that God steers us, uses us as vessels to accomplish work, and stops us when we go astray.  Many years ago I came to believe that God would guide us but we had the responsibility to execute The Plan.  Furthermore, if we have spiritual lessons to learn, God won't intervene without being asked, forcing us to grapple with whatever lesson is at hand. In Choice Point, I wrote about this as the dance we do with God: God leads, we follow but we have to know how to do our part.

Now, you may ask, what does all this locus of control talk have to do with Blue Zones and living longer.  It ends up that people to live to be 100 and beyond demonstrate the dichotomy with which I've wrestled.  Most centenarians do have faith that something beyond themselves is steering them through life.  But, contrary to what behavioral researchers have found in workplaces, those who live long are happy, they find joy in life, and they laugh off things that don't go as they might have liked--even in situations as trying as the death of a child.  "There's a bigger plan," is what most would say. "Don't worry."  And, clearly, the external orientation of their destiny has not had negative impact on their health.

Stress and worry are detrimental to our health. Those "externals," who just let go of things, rid their bodies of cortisol, the stress hormone which has significant deleterious impact on our bodies. Wherever Buettner and his team found high concentrations of people who live to 100 and beyond, Bob Marley's lyrics, "Don't worry. Be happy," echo prominently, but joyfully.

Once again I find myself in a gray zone, wishing to ask, "Is it internal?" or "Is it external?"  Instead I am going to integrate the several lessons.  While behavioral researchers have found that externals are less satisfied with their lives, it is because of a sense of resignation that whatever is controlling their lives has decided, "This is as good as it gets." Conversely, the centenarians who believe an external force controls their lives believe that it is a force for good which is watching out for them.  "Things are going to be better; I just don't understand how."  Rather than the source of control, I think satisfaction of life lies in a deep-seated optimism that whatever is going on--good or bad--it is destined to be better.




*Stephen P. Robbins, Organizational Behavior, Prentice Hall, 2005, Glindex, P. 642.