Curing A Blaming Mindset: Toward an internal locus of control

How Much Control Do We Have? The free-will debate in the time of coronavirus

For time immemorial, philosophers have debated the extent to which we have free will.

The coronavirus pandemic makes such a debate timely because something so important is happening to us that is out of our control. As a result, it's easy to feel helpless and unmotivated to do what we should do.

In my Psychology Today article today, I argue that they're wrong and that we do retain much free will. The article's goal is to reassure and motivate us to be assertive, to have internal locus of control even in this time of coronavirus. We can choose to make a difference or not to, in our lives and others.

I focus on behaviors related to the coronavirus.

Just Your Luck: Luck matters much more than we like to acknowledge.

Speaking to Harvard’s 2019 graduating seniors, dean Rakesh Khurana asserted that Harvard grads don't deserve their success. Rather, they are the benefits of privilege, of luck.

My reflexive reaction was to disagree. After all, I'm pretty successful despite coming from true poverty, living in a Bronx tenement, the child of Holocaust survivors who suffered the unimaginable and who spoke virtually no English, had no education, no money, no family, only the scars of the Holocaust tortures.

But on reflection, Khurana may be right. I make the case in my PsychologyToday.com article today.

Curing Excuse-Making Syndrome

A major differentiator between successful and unsuccessful people is the extent to which they externalize responsibility. 

I explore this and offer solutions in my PsychologyToday.com article today.

Do You Want More or Less Control of Your Life?

Do you want more or less control of your life? I explore that in my PsychologyToday.com article today.