Personal Power: Living Out Your Hidden Potential

One of our wildest childhood dreams, is waking up one day and discovering that we have super powers and we have the ability to use those super powers to help people and to ‘save the world’ like our favourite super heroes do.

But what if I told you that those wild childhood dreams of yours are somewhat true?

We all have a special super power that not only benefits us, it will change the world as well.

This power is what brought to us success stories of people who overcame failure, of heroic acts that made the world a better place, of courage that fought evil to protect the helpless and the innocent. This is the power that wrote down the names of Einstein, Thomas Edison, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Oprah Winfrey, among many others. With the right help in finding this power, it could also write your name among them.

This super power is called PERSONAL POWER.

The Institute for Social + Emotional Intelligence Asia Pacific defines Personal Power as the ability of a person to possess a sense of self-confidence and an inner knowing that they have what it takes to meet the challenges, setbacks, problems and the adversities of life. They can roll with the punches, having those difficult conversations when needed and sincerely speaking their truth with a quiet conviction.

It is driven by the values of love, compassion, generosity, humility and respect for self and others, rather than by the desire to overpower or control others. Personal Power is in fact what separates the winners from the others in all fields of endeavour and often becomes a strong predictor of success. We start to develop such power by growing our emotional intelligence for self-awareness which enables us to know our preferences, resources, and intuitions.

People who have harnessed this wondrous power show the following in their lives:

• A calm inner conviction about who they are and their ability to get the things they want and need in life.
• Belief that they can set the direction of their lives, and do.
• Are able to distinguish between the things they have control over in life and those they do not; never stressing over the latter.
• Define themselves from the inside out (“I’m capable,” “I’m good at managing setbacks,” “I’m pretty good at managing conflicts,” “I’m creative”) rather than from the outside in (“I’m a Vice President,” “I’m a banker,” “I’m a lawyer,” or “I’m a doctor”).
• Make things happen; don’t believe in fate.
• Feel in control of their lives.
• Know what they want and go after it.
• Are confident in themselves.
• Can speak their truth and give voice to their convictions.

So how do you harness this innate power of yours?

Here are some developmental tips to help you harness your personal power:

• Record our accomplishments in life. Make an effort to recapture the feeling of the moment.
• Identify and tap into the emotions associated with those strengths that help us excel.
• Examine the causes of our lack of confidence or lack of personal power. Seek out formal or informal training in those areas to boost our confidence.
• Envision ourselves as smart, competent, articulate, poised, and admired.
• Take an assertiveness course or read a book on assertiveness.
• Become aware of communication circumstances when we put ourselves down or use language that suggests powerlessness or a lack of confidence (“I’m sorry. “I guess that’s a good idea.” or I’m just a beginner.”). Be aware of allowing interruptions.
•Language teaches people how to treat us. Enlist the help of a good communication coach.
• Let go of situations over which we have no control or power and identify circumstances and situations where we can have influence.
• Set and keep boundaries.
• Move on from failures.
• Seek the help of a mentor.

What would you be able to achieve when you find and nurture your own Personal Power?

This 2019, let us all make it a priority to tap our personal power and develop its potential. What a waste it would be if it remained only a hidden potential throughout our lives. The earlier we get to release this power in us the brighter our future will be.

We understand that the difficult part in any pursuit is to get started. Need help in that? We’ll help you make the first step and mentor you along the way. Contact us today.

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