Every day I doubt myself. And every day I have to remind myself that my doubts are not who I am, but just my fear trying to keep me thinking small and playing safe. While there are many days I don’t have to wrestle for very long with doubt or fear or misgivings about what I’m doing, who I’m being, or where I’m going, there are still plenty days that I do. But what I know for sure is this: that we human beings, me included, are bigger than any doubt we can ever have, stronger than any fear, and more powerful in our ability to make positive changes in the world around us, begining in our inner world, than we can imagine.
Perhaps your idea of power relates to people in positions of high office and formal authority — politicians, company presidents, policemen and the like. But I define power not as formal authority, but as one’s ability to affect change. In other words, being powerful is far more than a job title; it’s an attitude. To me, truly powerful people are those who live life on their terms, who are comfortable in their own skin, clear about what they want, courageous in how they go about achieving it, and very conscious of the power they have to choose their response to their circumstances. They aren’t waiting on some mythical super hero to solve their problems or grant them persmission to live life on their own terms, they are their own super hero.
I guess it goes without saying that there are many people in the world who don’t live their lives powerfully. People who:
- continually find themselves a victim to their circumstances (and so are forever in “complaint”)
- are always trying to please or impress people around them
- say yes when they want to say no and so constantly find themselves over-committed (and failing to honor commitments)
- don’t challenge the values and beliefs of those around them nor take time to clarify their own
- allow other people’s moods and emotions to determine their own
- who settle for way less than what they want both from others and from themselves
- go through life rudderless and following the path of least resistance
- avoid speaking up if it might ruffle feathers, or worse, risk a confrontation
- don’t believe in their ability to change the things they don’t like nor to pursue the things they do
Of course at times we can all find ourselves failing to act in powerful ways (and yes, I’m speaking from experience ;)). But what matters most isn’t that we sometimes fail to express ourselves authentically, stand for what we want and refuse to settle for what we don’t. After all, we are all “human becomings – always evolving and sometimes tripping as we move along. Rather what matters most is that we notice when we are doing so and then consciously choose to reset our sails, reclaim our voice and step forward doing and being all we aspire to.
It is my deepest belief that we are all — and yes, that includes you — powerful beyond measure. That within you lies the resources to create and accomplish extra-ordinary things and to affect change in the world in extraordinary ways. Truly. The thing that keeps most people from doing that is not all the barriers the world has erected to keep them stuck. It is simply their lack of belief in themselves; in their own personal power.
In case you haven’t already picked it up, I’m pretty passionate about empowering people to reconnect with their personal power; to be their own super hero. Which is why I’m hoping this will cause you to stop all that busy doing and reflect, even if just for one minute, on the life you are living and the limits you have imposed on yourself. As I wrote about in my book Find Your Courage, the biggest barrier you face to having the life you want to live is the stories you’ve bought into about what is possible for you. So take a step back and ask yourself, “Where could I be more powerful?” Where could you be affecting positive change more profoundly and more boldly in the life you are living, in the lives of those around you, in your team, organization or community. . . in the world at large. (For an example of personal power in action, please read about the One Day Without Shoes campaign!)
Believe me, you have more power in you to affect change, to produce results, to change your life and by default, the lives of others than you can possibly imagine!
And if you don’t know where to start, begin by answering this one simple question, “If I knew that I could change anything, what one thing would I choose to change in my life today?”
