“Right here and now, this very day, you have the power to think, the power to dream, the power to make decisions, the power to act, the power to create, to learn, to influence others, to change things, to experience and enjoy. On top of all that, you have the power to invent, to innovate, to change your mind, to understand, and to move into a new direction. You have the power to persevere, to work with discipline and focus, to manage your time, to recognize your opportunities, to take responsibility and to act responsibly, to solve problems, to effectively utilize your resources, and to make a positive difference in your world. Some people take these very same powers and achieve great things. How will you make use of your power today? It is an incredible opportunity and an awesome responsibility. It is real and it is yours. Challenge yourself to transform that power, with your thoughts and actions, into your own special greatness.”
Ralph Martson
Beginning a new year is a perfect time to remind yourself of your innate powers. Why? For the simple reason that relying on your own innate powers is the key to successfully managing yourself and your engagements. You have these powers from birth and you can’t lose them, but you still… need to be aware of them to use them effectively. Otherwise, it would be easy to disregard them or even downplay their significance. When that happens, people erroneously believe that they are helpless victims with no ability to affect change. Regaining awareness of and acting upon your abilities frees you from feeling helpless in the face of adversity. How’s that for a goal in 2023?
The truth is that you have the power to do all kinds of wild and wonderful things! But that is true only if you’re willing to tap into your innate powers, activate them, develop them, and then put them to good use. That’s up to you; you have to do that. Default on doing that, then any competency that you have will actually atrophy.
Talk about power! That is a potent depiction of someone who is aware of their abilities and knows how to put them to good use. If you take the time to remind yourself of your innate powers, you’ll be better prepared to seize opportunities as they arise. Because of your abilities, you can take advantage of favorable situations. Know that a chance is not the same thing as a right. You have no legal standing to make such a claim or make such a demand. Consider it an opportunity instead. This is your chance to take advantage of a situation and see what develops. This calls for both mental and physical exertion.
The most obvious aspects of your innate powers are the ones you use to communicate with the outside world, namely your linguistic powers of speech and your behavioral powers of action. You can have a greater impact on the world and accomplish more when you cultivate these personal strengths. Subtleties abound in one’s inner powers. Your thinking and feelings, your brain and body, all need to be engaged in these activities because they take place in your meta place. As a result, you’ll be able to cultivate a vibrant and full internal world. The new emphasis on thinking in Neuro-Semantics, as well as the Thinking Series in the Brain Camps, are meant to greatly strengthen these innate abilities. When NLP pioneer Richard Bandler described this as “running your own brains,” he pinpointed a common difficulty people have with leadership.
That’s the problem. Apparently, your brain needs direction. It needs to be told what to do. That’s where meta-thinking comes in. Above and beyond thinking, is instructional thinking. That’s where you tell your brain (or focus your mind) so that you think about things that make your life better and more resourceful. In both NLP and Neuro-Semantics, we enable people to learn to take control of their lives and change their experiences, by showing how to control what happens in the brain. Speaking about control, Bandler uses the metaphor of driving.
So, just as you go to a gym to develop your body, if you want your innate powers to be well developed, to be sharp and ready to put you into action, you need to develop those innate powers. Then your zone of power will be at your ready access as opportunities arise. Then, your experiences in life will be under your control and not the environment, the culture, or someone else’s.
Curated by Danielle Tan.
Reference:
- [Neurons] 2023 Neurons #2 NEW YEAR POWER by L. Michael Hall, Ph.D. Executive Director, ISNS.
