Inner-Directed and Outer-Directed People being more Inner-Directed or Outer-Directed. Which do want to be?

How does
Inner-Directed people are those who feel that they largely determine their this view affect your relationships?
destinies by inner characteristics, attitudes, and resources they develop during
their lifetime. By contrast, Outer-Directed people feel they are governed by "But", you might ask "what about those situations and environments we have
their environment, institutions, organizations, people, circumstances, and little control over?" "Don't they impact the course of our lives?" I must admit I
situations in which they happen to find themselves. have had a new appreciation for the impact of situations totally beyond our
control such as birth date, family, etc. since reading Malcolm
The discussion questions in this project are designed to help participants Gladwell's Outliers. He makes a strong case for the power of circumstances
enhance their awareness level regarding their view of life based on their beyond our control but he also provides wonderful examples of how people,
answers to the questionaire in Project 15. My answers indicate I am definitely obiously Inner-Directed, took advantage of those situations. So, as in many
Inner-Directed.  aspects of life, there is no simple answer. But being Inner-Directed certainly has
its benefits. As I ponder this project anew, I know I will be paying more
Obviously, this awareness can have an impact on how we view our attention to my self-talk as well as looking for ways to leverage the wonderful
relationships with others, with our organizations, with our jobs, and even with circumstances life has dealt me.
ourselves. If we continually feel directed by outside forces with no power over
these relationships, we will take little action to make them better. On the other
hand, feeling more control provides freedom and responsibility within these
relatioships. For many people that may be a bit frightening. If I have that
freedom and responsibility I can't blame others for how my life turns out.

I know that feeling. At those times in my life when I question or regret how my
life turned out it would be much easier to blame outside forces. But, as my
scores indicate, I can't do that. As the poet William Ernest Henley eloquently
expressed in Invictus (cited in an earlier post), I am, to a large degree, the
master of my fate.

The last question in this project is probably the most powerful: "How does your
self-talk affect your being Inner-Directed or Outer-Directed?" Perhaps the
awareness and skill of self-talk is the most powerful within the Adventures in
Attitudes program. It will be covered in more detail in future projects, but
suffice to say when I am most aware of my self-talk I have the greatest
opportunity to impact the direction of control on my life. So listen to how you
talk to yourself and decide if your internal discussion is leading you toward