Personal Power is about your ability to make and uphold decisions that will enable you to fulfil your needs and desires, while living the life you want. To develop your Personal Power, it is necessary to take ownership of your life, accept responsibility of your decisions and actions, have clarity on what you want and then to practice what it takes to achieve that.
‘…despite many people, often people you care about, wanting you to live in a way
that fulfils their needs rather than your own.’
This may sound like a simple process. In reality it can be challenging, primarily because many of us have been socialised to allow others to direct our life. As part of that socialising process we may have been disconnected from our self and often we have not been empowered in the critical steps and skills for the development of our Personal Power.
The process of developing Personal Power begins with claiming ownership of your life; recognising and accepting you are the core decision maker of your life. Your experience of life is up to you. It is up to you to decide what life you want to live, to experience, despite many people, often people you care about, wanting you to live in a way that fulfils their needs rather than your own. You have the basic right to, and can, claim your life to live as you desire. The decision to claim your life doesn’t mean your life will become what you want. However it is the critical first step on the journey.
‘When you own your own life and take responsibility, you become a self-determined individual.’
To effectively claim ownership of your life it is essential to take responsibility for it. This means accepting and acting on the consequences of your decisions and practices. The more responsibility you accept the more powerful the impact on your life. At the same time it is critical to recognise what you are not responsible for.
When you take responsibility for your life you enable yourself to travel your own journey of life, doing this can be a significant challenge. If you do not know how to make effective decisions, or what is likely to support your success, your actions tend to be random exploration, which may have disheartening results. Guidance can be valuable for faster achievement and fulfilment.
Even with guidance it is important to remember owning your life is a process of growth and development, which at times, can be disconcerting and uncomfortable. Yet it is managing these adjustments that allow you to create the life you want. And provide the sense of achievement that is so rewarding. To ensure the discomfort is worth it you need to know what you are aiming for. And you need to know what practices are most likely to achieve your desired out come.
‘Even with guidance it is important to remember owning your life is a process of growth and development, which at times, can be disconcerting and uncomfortable.’
When you own your own life and take responsibility you become a self-determined individual. You decide what type of person you want to be and what that looks like. You provide yourself with clarity of intention and direction. Discovering and focusing on your strengths and talents, clarifying your values and learning about the appropriate actions are great places to start your journey of self-determination. At the same time none of us alone, practicing what it takes becomes a balancing act of understanding what you want your actions to be and how others experience your actions so that your impact is what you desire. What practices create your desired impact?
Personal Power is your responsibility. It is about you being the decision maker in your life. To build your personal power embrace the awareness you have the right of choice and can develop the skills to design your life so you support yourself to be the person you want to be. Claiming and building your personal power is a process of growth. It is a journey you can begin it by validating where you already practice personal power. This allows you to build on what you already have. So if you desire to travel towards personal power, begin by ask yourself:
Where am I currently practicing my right of choice?
Where could I, would I like to increase living by my preferences?
Do I know what it would look like if I had more Personal Power in that area?
If you aren’t sure of where to start, you could try clarifying what you would like your life to be like. To do so use a process of clarification such as ‘Compare and Contrast’. Or to increased self connection such as ‘Harmless Preference Stance’.