Discovering Your Personal Power
Do you realize the value of your talents? Do you make the most of your experiences? Do you cherish your individual perspective? You have a beautiful gift to share with the world- no matter your job, your business, or your place in life. The challenge is discovering your personal power- that wonderful gift that’s unique to you- and use it to create a purposeful life!
Please enjoy this guest post from my good friend Steve Rice at True Spiritual Awakening, sharing an equation for discovering your personal power.
A Powerful Equation to Uncover the Value of Your Gifts
I remember sitting across from a guidance counselor at my school. I was there to go over the results of the aptitude test I had taken earlier that school year. He said to me, “according to your results, you’d be a good teacher.”
A teacher? I thought. No way!
I shut him off at that point. I had a picture of what a teacher was (and did) and I didn’t want to be a teacher.
Have you ever rejected your talents ? Many of us shut life up when it begins to reveal to us our unique gifts because they aren’t what we expect or wish they were.
Your Talents Are the Secret to Your Personal Power
We talk a lot about personal power. We talk about losing it, giving it away, and reclaiming it. Your power is never gone. It cannot be diminished (except in your own mind). It lies within you.
The challenge is that we diminish our unique gifts in our own minds and in our own estimation. We do this by comparing what we believe we can (or cannot) do with what others are doing or have done.
We also do this by equating value with dollars. We think that the movie star or musician who earns a million dollars a year has a more valuable “gift” than we do. The true value of the gift lies in the hearts of those who experience it. Money has nothing to do with the true value of your gift itself.
Recognizing the Value of Your Gifts
It takes a shift of your belief system to recognize the inherent value of your gifts.
Years ago, I used to live near an art museum. Because admission was free, I would walk through the museum two or three times a month. I knew all the artwork on display.
No matter how often I toured the museum, there was always something “new”. I would walk around the corner and see a painting or sculpture and think, I’ve never seen that before, even though it had been there all along.
This is what happens in life. Our experiences and beliefs are constantly evolving. When you realize that everyone has a unique experience in life and a unique perspective, you will start to recognize that your unique perspective is a powerful gift others are yearning for.
Think about this… even if you had a single message to bring to the world and you brought it repeatedly, with all your heart and soul, it would be valuable to the world because every person won’t hear your message the same way.
Ghandi had a message of peace.
Martin Luther King, Jr. had a message of justice through nonviolence.
Mother Teresa had a message of love and compassion for the poor.
What is your message?
You are enough. The deepest longing of your soul is your gift.
The Equation
Your Unique Talents
+
Your Unique Experiences
+
Your Unique Perspective
=
Your Personal Power
If you add your skills, your experiences and the unique perspective in life, you can wield exceptional personal power in your own life and the lives of others.
Don’t shut out your gifts. Invite them in. Honor them. Value your life lessons and claim your power.
Steve Rice is the owner of True Spiritual Awakening. He is an author and spiritual teacher committed to creating a well-lived life and helping others to do the same by helping them bridge the gap between abstract philosophy and practical, hands-on tools which, together, create a life of momentum. You can follow him on Twitter or connect on Facebook.
I love your comments! What did you think of Steve’s inspirational post? Do you embrace your unique gifts and recognize their true value?
Join the ConversationIs Your Happiness Quest Making You Miserable?
It’s all about happiness on Live Love Work and I’m thrilled to shared this guest post by Kelly Gurnett (a.k.a. Cordelia) from Cordelia Calls It Quits! Bring on the happy! : )
Last month, I had a breakdown. An honest-to-goodness, cancel-all-plans, try-not-cry-in-the-bathroom-at-work breakdown. And it made me completely reexamine the way I was going about this whole “improve my life” thing.
You see, for the past many months, I’ve been hustling my little tail off to transform my life into the brilliant thing I know it can be. And while I’ve been optimistic as hell about my future, I’ve also been as unhappy as hell as in my present.
I run my blog, my passion project which I’m always trying to make as amazing as possible. I contribute twice a month to the Brazen Careerist blog Brazen Life. I recently got picked up as a contributor to Lifehack. I freelance in the hours around (and sometimes during) my day job. I put in my social media dues. I recently released my first ebook.
Occasionally I schedule in a little “down time.” (I have to schedule it, or else I won’t honor it.) But that’s mainly because I know I have to or else I’ll burn out altogether and be good for nothing. Every minute of every day, I am thinking about, planning for, or working on some project or goal or piece of the puzzle that one day will lead me to my ultimate “happiness”: working full-time as a writer/editor, on my own terms, free of the 9 to 5 and loving my life like crazy.
But my recent meltdown clued me into something huge I’d been oblivious to. In the midst of all my hustling and striving for my happiness in the future, I’d been completely neglecting my happiness in the here and now.
Hi! I’m Your Day! Let’s Do Something! Let’s Play! Let’s—Oh, Okay. Nevermind. It’s Alright…
There’s nothing wrong with having goals. In fact, I recommend them quite highly. Far too many people are content (or pretend they’re content) settling for things as they are, telling themselves they should be grateful, and believing that “meh” is the best kind of life you can expect from the “real world.”
Wanting to make things better—whatever that means for you—is admirable, ballsy, and just plain freakin’ awesome.
But, you have to be careful not to forget that you also have a life to live today. And focusing solely on the future while neglecting the present can lead to making to miserable in that present.
I’ll deliver it in a puppy anecdote (because everything’s better when puppies are involved):
I have two adorable and very spoiled dogs. There is nothing better than coming home after a long day of work and seeing their unfailing enthusiasm at my return: Mom’s home! Time for attention! Time for food! Time for pets! Tails wags and paws leap off the ground; the excitement is palpable and infectious. If I took just a few minutes to roughhouse with them and revel in their pure doggy joy, my transition home would be lovely. I would shed all the grownup, frowny stress of the workaday world and enter my evening (my “real life”) with a renewed sense of lightness and optimism.
Unfortunately, most days, the best response my dogs got from me was a bowl of dinner followed by a night of watching Mom type, type, type away until her eyelids started drooping. No pets. No fun. Just a frazzled me getting increasingly more frazzled.
Same goes for the husband: I’d sit down with him long enough to shovel some food into my mouth, then it was off to more hustling. There was just so much I wanted to do to make sure my spiffy new life got off the ground. I kept sacrificing a cozy (and much-needed) night with my little family because I felt it was for the “greater good.” I was focused. I was determined.
I was miserable.
Because—and here’s the thing—it doesn’t help your happiness to get to that “greater good” if you feel horrible throughout the entire process of getting there.
Your life is gazing at you every day and saying, “Hey! Let’s go for a walk! Let’s catch up with that friend! Let’s watch that awesome sunset!” It’s wagging its little tail and fixing that heart-melting gaze on you that says it just wants to spend some time together, for no other reason than that it would be really nice. And even if you’re striving for bigger and better things, you need to remind yourself to take a breath and listen to it. Because in the ultimate scheme of things, this moment is your happiness.
Let Go Of “I’ll Be Happy When…”
There is more to your happiness than those grand future goals. They’re great, and by all means keep fighting like crazy for them. But you’ve gotta the present a little love, too, or else you’re defeating your own purpose.
Happiness quests go both ways. Sure, it’s takes a ton of effort and sacrifice to improve yourself and your life. I’m not saying it doesn’t. Sometimes you need to forego a little immediate gratification to make your drams happen. Just don’t make that sacrifice a constant practice. Because, as John Lennon wrote, “Life is what happens to you when you’re busy making other plans.”
So. If you’re up for it, I’d like to end this with a challenge: Stop questing, stop striving, and set aside some space to spend some quality time with your day—even if it’s only for 15 minutes. Pause to recognize what you’ve got right now, and love the hell out of it. Your goals will still be there when you get back to them. But today won’t.
Written by Kelly Gurnett
Kelly Gurnett (a.k.a. Cordelia) is a wannabe revolutionary, improvement junkie, and fierce opponent of the 9-5, bottom-line, lather-rinse-repeat mentality.
She likes caffeine, outcasts, dreamers, and all things snarky.
I love your comments! Have you given up your happiness today in pursuit of future happiness? How are you going to add happiness to your day today?
Happy puppy picture courtesy of ZakVTA
4 Beliefs of Successful (and Happy) People!
We all want to succeed in life. What success looks like is different for each of us. Whatever success looks like to you, please enjoy this guest post by M.Farouk Radwan exploring the the belief systems of successful people. These 4 beliefs encourage not only success, but happiness, too! I live by all 4 beliefs and they have nurtured plenty of happiness and success in my life.
How your belief system determines your level of success in life.
In the past I kept reading stories about successful people all around the globe who managed to achieve success even though they started from scratch. While the fields that those people succeeded at were so different, there was a common theme between them all. All of those people thought exactly the same way! If this proves anything it shows that one of the factors that directly affect our level of success in life is our belief systems.
So what kind of beliefs do those successful people share?
1) They control their destiny: Every successful person in the world believes that he is in control of his life and he rarely blames an external factor for his failures. Those people don’t believe in luck or the unfairness of life but instead they know that they can change their lives to the better even if they were facing lots of obstacles.
2) They don’t ever give up: When you read about the success stories of successful people you will find that most of them didn’t succeed before tens of failed attempts. The person who succeeds in life is the one who always knows that success happens after lots and lots of failures. Thomas Edison failed 999 times before he managed to invent the lamp!
3) They believe in themselves: You might wonder how can a person keep trying and trying even though he is failing. Simply put, that person doesn’t give up because he believes in himself. All successful people believe in themselves and that’s why they kept trying even though they fail. The founder of KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) traveled to four different states trying to sell his secret recipe which was rejected hundreds of times before he managed to find someone to accept it.
4) They are committed to action: Some people are dreamers. They keep talking about their big plans without ever starting on any of them. Successful people are doers and they hardly procrastinate. They understand how precious time is and so they stay committed to their plans all year round.
So how can you become successful?
In simple words, change your belief system so that it matches the belief system of successful people!
Of course it’s not as easy as it sounds. In order to change your beliefs you need to keep an eye on your self-talk for it’s the most common factor that results in the change of beliefs. Whenever you find your self-talk supporting negative, change it to positive self-talk.
As the time passes your beliefs will change and you will start thinking like successful people.
Written by M.Farouk Radwan
Farouk is a full time blogger and is the founder of http://www.2knowmyself.com a website that has over 1000 self help, personal development and psychology articles. You can Add him on Google+ here
I love your comments! Do you agree with these 4 beliefs of successful people? What other beliefs lead to success?
Image courtesy of marsmet544.
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Chrysta Bairre
