Take Back Your Power

If you are frustrated that your life is not going how you had planned or that nothing seems to be happening as you want, stop and ask yourself this question. Who has the power to change your life? Alice Walker’s words are very fitting for many of us who feel powerless to change our lives. “The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.”

The only person who can change your life, make you happy, and help you realize all your goals is “You.” Period. No one else can do those things for you, and the sooner you realize this truth, the sooner you can start reclaiming the power that is inside of you and living the life you have always wanted.

You may have a lot of ideas about what it means to be powerful or to have power. While we often associate that term with people in positions of authority or those who like to dominate other people, you have a form of power that can improve your life. Your personal power is the key to living a life of meaning and of achieving happiness in all that you do.

Your personal power is your own agency and strength to make changes in your life and accomplish those goals you hold most dear. Your personal power is rooted in your abilities, confidence, and strength, and it is acquired throughout your life. Without personal power, your life will have less satisfaction and meaning, and your interpersonal relationships will suffer.

When you have personal power, you must become more fully self-aware. You must confront your flaws, accept responsibility for your life, and embrace the power you have to realize your dreams and visions. Self-awareness means you are able to take responsibility for your feelings and actions, which includes confronting regrets and mistakes from your past.

When you gain self-awareness, you increase your ability to make the changes in your life that you need to be happy. You can explore your personal beliefs and values so that you can find what will make you happy and what you want to achieve.

Your personal power allows you to understand what you want in your life fully. You know yourself on a deeper level, which will enable you to improve your life’s meaning and direction. You will feel more confident in your ability to realize your dreams when you embrace your personal power, as well. Confidence allows you to set goals that are realistic and attainable as well as aligned with your values and priorities.

When you have personal power, you are also more resistant to the obstacles you will meet as you journey through life. Your confidence will help you stick with it when things get hard, and you will have the necessary motivation to achieve your goals, no matter the setbacks.

Take Back Your Power

There are things you likely do regularly that are allowing others to have power or control over you. Giving your power away to others is handing over the reins of your life and abdicating your responsibility and desire to others. So, how do you dig deep inside and find the power you have had all along? Here are a few ways you can do just that.

#1. Say “no” when you need to. When you say “yes” all the time, agreeing to help other people, place their needs before yours, and agree with their opinions and ideas, you are placing yourself lower on your priority list. When you are constantly trying to please other people, you please your own needs on hold, which can result in harm to your health and well-being. Learning to say “no” when needed reclaims your right to your purpose and happiness.

#2. Let them save themselves. There may be others in your life who are struggling or looking to you for help and support because their life is unhappy. Just like no one else can make you happy, you are never going to make them happy, either. The only person that can save someone is themselves. It is not your job to fix them; it is theirs. Allow that person to embrace their own personal power and find their path to happiness.

#3. Stop blaming. Holding onto grudges and blaming others in your life for whatever pain or wrong you have suffered is only hurting you. It is not making the other person feel bad or changing the situation. Instead of worrying about who hurt you or how they wronged you, focus on what you learned from the situation, and apply that learning to your life now. Blaming and holding grudges weakens your power because you are allowing others to have control over your emotions. Stop blaming and start healing.

#4. Have faith in yourself. You have more power within you than you give yourself credit for. You can be more resilient than you think you can, and you need to have faith in yourself as the strong, powerful person that you are. Trusting yourself now will allow you to embrace your power as you reclaim it and use it to help you reach your goals.

#5. Reclaim what is yours. Regaining your personal power means doing the things you love, placing yourself at the top of your priority list, and seeing yourself for the strong, smart, flawed, beautiful, imperfect person that you are. Learning to love yourself, accept all the good and bad about yourself, and embracing the control you have over your destiny is the ultimate way you find that power within yourself and learn to harness it.

#6. Accept responsibility. You are the only person who can control your emotions or make you feel a certain way. Other people’s behaviors should not influence you. Accept that your feelings are solely in your control.

#7. Make sure your boundaries are clear. Healthy boundaries allow you to honor your needs and place yourself in high priority in your life. Be sure you are clear about what your boundaries are and communicate those to others, as well.

You do not need other people to like you. Wanting to be liked or highly regarded by other people shows that you do not value your own opinion or needs. When you receive criticism, you can decide if you agree with it or not, and you do not need to make other people happy.

When you have personal power, you are more resistant to the obstacles you will meet as you journey through life. Your confidence will help you stick with it when things get hard, and you will have the necessary motivation to achieve your goals, no matter the setbacks.

Related posts:

There I was receiving my first paycheque as a full-time designer. For a 21-year-old, receiving a cheque for $945.13, it was a lot of money. More money than my account has ever seen. I thought I was…

Its always fascinating to study a new technology and somehow fearful because you’re always trying to compare with someone else, especially when you’re in a given competition like this one for the…

that face came back to me, the face from Sarnath, of that monk, traversing a decade, through space and time, his old face, so old, that the folds of the saggy skin, twisted and turned in layers over…