A few weeks ago my friend Nea shared some thoughts about personal power in a live Facebook stream.
One of the things she said (beautifully) was that we misunderstand what personal power really is. We think that it means being active and decisive.
It made me think about all the metaphors we have for it:
- Seize the steering wheel (fine when you’re actually in the driver’s seat)
- Beat down the door (painful)
- Set the world on fire (leaving you with…ashes?)
- Kick myself in the butt (with your foot? impossible…and awkward to try)
- Pull myself up by the boot straps (um…how do you stand if you’re doing that?)
- Fight for yourself (assumes the world is denying or against you?)
- Tackle the problem (reasonable, unless the problem resists force and is slippery)
- Wrestle it to the ground (rather violent)
- Bite the bullet (people were told to bite a bullet in the old days when there was no anesthesia during surgery…do you really want that?)
- Take the plunge (how are your swimming skills?)
- Grab the bull by the horns (terrifying-even professional matadors don’t do this!)
Now, please know I have used ALL those metaphors to motivate myself (or others) at one time or another. In the right circumstances, they are useful and necessary, particularly when using guided imagery (which I utilize joyfully with myself and clients).
However, there is another way to being personally powerful, a way that’s in line with who you truly are. What if exercising true personal power simply means acting on what you most want to say yes to?
In my next column, I’m going to share what that means for me, and the future of this blog.
May we pursue our paths, acting on only those things to which we most want to say yes,
Best wishes,
Elizabeth
