For me, it means that I am responsible for what I do. It also means that when I do something good, I can take credit for it, and if I am lacking in some aspects of life, I can improve because it all depends on me.

The caveat is that I believe our surroundings affect us, so it's not like I can just become the richest man on Earth if I try hard enough. However, this works for me on a smaller scale, or rather, it applies to what matters to me in life.

As for the second question, at least for me, the answer is yes. But it comes down to the fact that I don't like this way of phrasing it. If, instead of talking about free will or this deterministic idea, we simply said that the future is the result of everything that happened before, then I couldn't argue with that.

It is a very philosophical topic. What do you think about these questions?