Use Your Personal Power To Obtain Your Goals

This type of personal power is about strength, integrity and courage. Courage to take the steps required to achieve the life you want...courage to stay focused and dedicated, and last...courage to know the difference personal power and having power over someone.

The Flow Of Personal Power What Does It Mean To Be Powerful?
By Lynn Marlow

Suppose I Ask You To Picture A Powerful Person

Close your eyes and think about that for a moment. What kind of person did you picture?

In this day and age, we’ve been learning a lot of lessons about what it means to be powerful. We measure power in bombs dropped, or troop surges. We measure power in money earned or elections won. When we think of powerful people, we think of people who have the resources and the status to control things: large corporations, nations, or big groups of people.

If so, what you’ve pictured is someone who has power over. This kind of power puts someone in a one-up position, and the objective of this kind of power is control and dominance. It’s the kind of power we talk about the most, the kind that we feel the most frightened of, maybe the most desirous of. But it’s a difficult kind of power to maintain, and, in the long run, not as powerful for most of us as you might think.

It seems that the more we focus on having power, that is, power over someone or something, the more we have to fight, the more we are challenged, and the harder we have to struggle to maintain that power. If we reach a position where we hold that kind of power, we are always in danger of losing it, or of being overpowered by someone bigger and stronger. After all, “The bigger they are, the harder they fall.”

Power Over Does Not Make You Happy

No one who makes it their mission to have power over is safe from challenge, or from losing that power. Dictators get overthrown, corporations go bankrupt, kids gang up on the playground bully. Seeking power over means always having to be vigilant, defensive, and reactive. Seeking power over is the diametric opposite of what leads to happiness, to relationships, to peace.

We have all known couples or families who tried to dominate one another. When people in relationships fall into the trap of trying to control each other, the relationship suffers, and often fails. In the effort to win, to be dominant, we almost always lose. Trying to control and limit the freedom of another person is an almost certain way to lose their love and loyalty.

So how do we feel empowered without overpowering? How do we feel strong, protected, resilient if the act of trying to have power over something or someone is such a trap?

True Power Has Nothing To Do With Having Powers Over Others

The wonderful news is that authentic power, the kind that brings strength and integrity and courage, doesn’t have anything to do with having power over others. The need to overpower and dominate comes from a dearth of internal security, an absence of trust, and a lack of true personal power.

Personal power speaks and protects, it doesn’t dominate. Personal power loves and respects, and doesn’t coerce. Personal power is not threatened by differences, by disagreement, or by others’ attempts to control. We hold our personal power within, and the potential it gives us remains safe there, until we choose to use it. Personal power gives confidence, a sense of worth and self respect that does not require that we diminish others.

Personal power is a dynamic, moving force

It represents the kind of energy we bring into our lives, our relationships, and our accomplishments. Making the vow not to send your power flowing out over others is really not much of a limit on the range and strength of that power. Imagine you can feel your power moving in other ways: with, alongside, blended, and augmented by the power of others; through, out through your hands, your mouth, your heart in your passions and your voice; of, flowing slowly in an inner spiral, forming and reforming your essential self; and from, up from the earth, down from the heavens, in through your senses and the soles of your feet, into your open and receptive heart.

Power With... is essential power of connection, of community, of relationship. This is the feeling of power in alliance, of knowing that being there to help others and to protect their interests means that they will also protect yours. It’s the power in numbers, the power of organizations and alliances. It is one of the reasons why we marry, form unions, or partnerships. By opening ourselves to others, by relying on and being a part of a community, we increase our power geometrically.

Power Through... is the power that comes from your actions, your passions, your movement through the world. This is creative empowerment, the power to express yourself freely and joyfully in whatever way you wish. Power through is active and moving, and is your way to express yourself to others, and leave footprints wherever you go. It’s the power to make an impact.

Power Of... is the power to be, to know yourself and to get strength from who and where you are. This is the power that comes from your core, knowing that you don’t need the approval or agreement of others to know who you are, what you want, and what you stand for. It comes from self care and self respect, and from honoring your feelings, your mind, your body, and your spirit.

Power From...... is the energy you receive when you are open, quiet, and observant. This is the power you receive from the universe, from God, from your own personal meditation. It is the quiet power that rises from solitude and self care, that thrives on ritual and awareness, and that brings you in touch with the world’s abundance and riches. It is gratitude.

Isn’t it ironic that the kind of power that we hear the most about, the kind of power that people fight and die for, is the one that is least necessary for life? We all can (or could) survive very well, thank you very much, without trying to dominate or prove our superiority to others. The power we need, the power that brings happiness, peace, creative expression, passion and connection to our lives, is the power that brings us together, inside and out.

Now when I ask you to picture a powerful person, whom do you see?

Take A Moment Each Day To Feel Your Own Personal Power

Feel each flow in succession, for each one gives you strength, and each one is essential for life’s journey. As you consider each power flow, ask yourself whether or not you are allowing your power to flow in that way. Ask yourself what more you need to do that day to empower yourself and others, to let your personal power flow more freely. Respect your power, honor it, and use it to your own benefit and the benefit of others. Using power to dominate diminishes everyone, but feeling and expressing personal power creatively and constructively empowers, supports, and protects us all.

Meditations on Power

Power of —

Do this meditation standing straight, or sitting with feet on the floor. Focus first on your feet, feel their connection to the ground underneath you, and feel the muscles supporting and balancing you. Feel the flow of energy up your legs, and into the center of your belly. Feel energy travel from your eyes, ears, nose and mouth, through your head, down your throat and into the center of your belly.

Feel the flow of power from your hands, down your arms and into the center of your belly. At your center, feel the flow, slow and gentle, swirling in a spiral, bringing you deeper into yourself. Know that you are whole, you are divine, you are powerful, just as you are. Take a deep breath, dive into your power and take a few minutes to swim around in it, feeling it flow over and through you. Enjoy the feeling of being strong and powerful.

Questions: What illusions or masks can I move out from behind? How can I reassure my fearful self, feeling safe where I am? Am I honoring and caring for my body as fully as I can? Where can I find a time and place to be still and aware, allowing myself to just be?

Power through —

Close your eyes, and listen to your heart. Feel the energy, the creative power deep in your center, and as you observe it, feel it flowing outward. Feel the flow from your deepest self out through your hands, your feet, your belly, your mouth, and the top of your head. Feel how deep and boundless your power is, and how richly it flows when you open yourself up.

Questions: What can I do today that honors my beliefs and values? How can I express my creative spirit? What do I need to say to give my spirit a voice? How can I bring loving energy to everything I do, no matter how mundane or unpleasant?

Power from —

Close your eyes, and imagine a star above your head. Breathe slowly and deeply, and feel your heart relax and open. As you open yourself to receive grace and love, the light from the star glows brighter and brighter, coming down into your heart. Feel the flow of love and abundance and blessings from the universe. Smile and say thank you.

Questions: For what am I grateful today? What are some blessings in my life that I take for granted? Who in my life gives me energy and strength? What do I need to receive today, so that I can feel greater energy and peace?

Power with —

Close your eyes, and feel the flow of power moving through you, around and through others. First imagine your power moving around and through those you love. Then imagine your power moving around and through your friends, then your acquaintances. Expand your power of connection to include people you don’t know well, people you haven’t yet met. Finally, expand your loving power to encompass even your enemies, those with whom you are angry or in conflict. Feel their power flowing with your own, and feel the strength of the power joining, blending, and flowing together toward a common goal.

Questions: How can I strengthen my connection with someone I care about? How can I heal a damaged connection? How can I extend my loving power to a difficult person? What can I do today to make my family, my community, or my world a little better?

Go From Abundance Through Personal Power To Setting Goals

Creativity is one of Lynn's passions, and she expresses herself in many ways, in her writing, her garden, her website, and, most notably, in fused glass (http://www.marlowglassarts.com). www.marlowglassarts.com Her work boldly reflects her colorful, playful, and dynamic spirit.

Lynn values connection with self, others, work, community, earth, and spirit. Her holistic approach to coaching flows from her deep appreciation for how the emotional, mental, spiritual, and physical interconnect. Lynn believes that peace and happiness come from knowing yourself, feeling and expressing your emotional truth, having meaningful connections to people and activities, and moving through life with honesty, integrity, courage, and a sense of humor.

To learn more, or subscribe to her newsletter, visit her website at www.creativityunbound.com