You have no idea how incredibly powerful you are!
No really… you have an amazing ability to create the unimaginable, to do the impossible, and manifest anything in your life.
You have an enormous ability to will your ideas into existence.
You can transform yourself and the (entire) world around you.
We do not realize how easily we can transform ourselves. But we can. We do it everyday. We are continuously transforming. Unfortunately we transform in ways that do not serve us. How is this happening?
With simple statements and affirmations. These statements change the direction of our lives.
A simple statement can set you and the entire world on a course that will change the universe.
I often think back to one of the great leaders of our time, John F. Kennedy. He changed the course of history with one simple statement:
“We choose to go to the moon.”
At the time of this statement, NASA had not even successfully launched a rocket into space. From these simple words, a nation became energized and launched itself into a space era. However, it is worth noting that he followed that statement by saying:
“…not because they are easy, but because they are hard;”
(See the full speech at the bottom of this blog post.)
Our statements are always followed up with action.
Gandhi once made a proclamation indicating that India will be free and “the English will shake our hands and call us friends as they leave our country.” His words energized a nation to go beyond its capacity and beyond what it thought possible to free itself.
“Yes. In the end, you will walk out, because 100,000 Englishmen simply cannot control 350,000,000 Indians if those Indians refuse to cooperate. And that is what we intend to achieve: peaceful, nonviolent, non-cooperation — till you, yourselves, see the wisdom of leaving.”
Your words have power.
Gandhi said:
“In a gentle way, you can shake the World.”
The words you chose to say are the very thoughts that you put into your mind everyday. These words are like small stones thrown into a pond. While the stone creates a bit of a splash, no matter the size, the ripple effects last a long time.
1.The first step to cultivate your indomitable willpower is to practice silence.
Here is a sad truth you must except if you want to cultivate more power in your life.
99% of what you say is a waste of time and nonsense. I mean if you really think about it, how much do you say, that you don’t really need to say. Most people talk because you are afraid of the silence. They have have never been taught how to listen. Really and truly listen. People are too busy talking over everyone.
Learn to listen or pay attention to your own thoughts. Your thoughts are words in a different form. Your thoughts are your words in their most subtlest form. Even though they are subtle, the ripple effects of those words in your mind move outward into all aspects of your life.
In silence we receive the answers we need.
Silence is one of the only ways to remedy those negative thought patterns.
What is silence and how do we practice it?
Turn everything off. Turn off your phone, turn off your computer, turn off social media. Turn everything off.
If you have a family, you have two decisions to make. Either wake up before they do, OR (preferably) make an agreement with them that for a certain amount of time every morning, no one will talk. Yes it is easy to do. It may take some time for everyone to learn this practice or get used to the idea, but with patience and time, your family will learn to relish in silence look forward to these “still” moments in the day.
2. Cultivate your indomitable will by choosing words that are powerful, positive and uplifting.
You know the old expression,
“If you don’t have anything nice to say….”
These were really wise words we were taught. Let’s begin to practice them again. We can do this!
You have the power to manifest, but you need to turn all of your thoughts towards that which you want. When a part of your mind is focusing on fear and lack, feelings of unworthiness, or is just simply negative, all you will have are those things you focus on and you will forever be paddling upstream in the river of life.
When when you can become fully and completely inwardly aligned, you will be shocked at your power of manifestation. You will manifest anything you put your mind towards.
When I was 15, I was starting out my school year. (I went to boarding school.) I started that school year already thinking about the next summer and the money I wanted to make.
“As an experiment in visualization, I hadcrafted a big sign emblazoned with “$2500” across it that I hung just above my bed, and then in my locker at school for the entire school year. That was my summer earnings goal–exactly what I made–and my first lesson in manifesting.”
~ excerpt taken from “Autobiography Of A Naked Yogi”
After your morning of silence, choose the words and images you want to imprint into your mind.
One of the affirmations I love to say in the mornings when I am looking into the mirror is:
“I am alive!
I am alert!
I feel great!”
Find and choose words that give you a sense of power and indomitable will. Some people repeat their mission statement. Other people repeat their goals.
Either way, eliminate the stinky thinking and replace it with what you want to manifest. As a friend of mine used to say:
“What you think about, you bring about.”
3. Live a life true to your word.
I am not sure when it happened, but somewhere along the way, it almost seems that we have lost our connection to our word.
Our culture is finding it acceptable that we don’t have to mean what we say. Facts have become alternative facts. Presidents can lie without recourse. So many people (that you know) make commitments, knowing full well that they have no intention in keeping them. People make goals knowing they will never even attempt to achieve them.
Our words carry power. Our word is our integrity. Our words come from the place deep within that is our source. When we say we are going to do something, we must do it. When we don’t do what we say we are going to do, a piece of ourselves is lost. Your mind, your greatest ally, becomes confused and disoriented. We become inherently weak. And when we become weak, we can not do anything and no one will trust us.
And if no one trusts you or has confidence in you, what is the point of living.
This kind of action confuses and clutters the mind. It has become disoriented and has no direction. People who “lie” and don’t live by their word create chaos around them.
You know the kind of habit patterns I am talking about. The kind of habit when we say we will be somewhere at a certain time, but we do not show up. We say we will get something done, but we don’t do it. We say that we will make a goal, but then forget about it the next day.
People who are truthful, honest and mean what they say, will and do accomplish a lot. These people are the light bearers and the “movers and shakers” of the world.
One of the most impactful memories I have ever had was from the play, “The Crucible.” During my life I have seen this play several times. One of the most was with Liam Neilson and Laura Linney. In this version there is a conversation between the character played by Liam Neilson and the Deputy Governor:
“Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies!”
Become firmly established and aligned in what you stand for.
When you know what you stand for, and your word reflects your stand, you will become an unshakable force of nature. Remember a willow tree can bend, but its roots are firmly grounded.
This quote from Martin Luther resonates in the background of my mind:
“I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I can do no other, so help me God.”
~ Martin Luther
Spend some time understanding what you stand for in this life. Understand what is important to you. Be honest and sincere with yourself. Learn to have some dialogue with yourself.
Life is too short for you to be the proverbial cork in the ocean bobbing up and down, drifting with each storm and current. Become like the ship with a deep rudder that is directed on a course. Even in the midst of a great storm, you are able to stay the course.
Your word becomes your truth. And your truth shapes the universe.
4. Expand your capacity.
You need to begin to live your life outside of the box you have created for yourself. This box is constructed with all of the shoulds and should nots you have in your life. These are called comfort zones.
Just recently, someone commented to me, “I am concerned about what people think of me.” I replied, “Live your life not caring about what other people think. I do and it is a life of freedom.” Where upon he replied, “I know you do. I wish I could.”
We live in a box of our own making. We have become like the elephant who has been chained up so often, that when our keeper unchains us, we don’t know we are free. Only in our human existence, we have never been chained in the first place.
Live everyday of your life by stepping out of your comfort zones.
Click here to read more about how to get out of your self created box!
In our culture today, we are not empowered to push ourselves to our limits. It has been my observation that people become weak as soon as they experience the slightest struggle. As soon as they experience something difficult and challenging, “life is just too hard.”
We are always encouraged to take a more gentle path. And in doing so, we have become soft.
I wrote in a recent article,
“A few months back, I had started to realize that I was living my life inside of a box. A box that was becoming small and shrinking rapidly. I had told some friends,
“I am becoming soft.”
For me, it was clear what this statement had meant.
But it was hard to explain. A simple statement with so many complex meanings.
Becoming soft had meant that I had started to become too comfortable. Or rather, I was becoming intolerant of being uncomfortable.
I was starting to become too complacent.
My body was becoming soft.
My mind was becoming soft.
I was not bothering to remember things.
My meditation practice was at a stand still.
I was not exercising.
I was getting lazy and not doing my yoga practice. Everything was getting too hard. And when I did exercise, I would give up as soon as it became too difficult.
My desire for comfort and pleasure was taking over. And when anything became uncomfortable, I was always adjusting away from discomfort to something more pleasant.
We have no idea what we are truly capable of because no one ever taught us! Nobody ever pushed us – REALLY pushed us!
I was really fortunate in my own journey to have had people teach me my limits. Or rather I was fortunate to have people undo my limits.
When I was teenager, I was fortunate to have been enrolled into St. John’s Boys School of Alberta.
A school who’s mission was to turn boys into men. But not just any kind of men! The school’s mission was to make men with character, and honor and who were courageous.
Everything we did was to build character, to help us become men. Everyone pushed us to become more then we thought we could be.
On the door to the school was a plaque with an excerpt from The Battle of Maldon, an Old English poem:
“Courage has got to be harder,
Heart the stouter, Spirit the sterner
As our strength weakens.
Here lies our Lord, cut to pieces;
Our best man in the dust.
If anyone is thinking of leaving this battle, he will howl, howl forever.”
We need to find ways to push ourselves. We need to (constantly) push ourselves to get out of the box. When we get out of the box, we begin to see life differently. When we get out of the box, fear of the unknown diminishes because we realize there was nothing to fear in the first place.
Here are 14 tips on how to cultivate your power and to get out of the box.
- Don’t explain, don’t complain.
- When in doubt, return to silence.
- Find ways to move your body everyday. Exercise. Climb a mountain. Join a fitness class. Whatever it is, make sure you are challenged.
- Take an internal shower daily by drinking 10 to 16 cups of water daily.
- Real power comes from laughter. Cultivate joy in your life. Live in gratitude.
- Have unreasonable goals.
- Dream big. Dream unreasonably. If your dreams don’t scare the shit out of you, they aren’t big enough. Go bigger.
- Delete the words “IF” and “MAYBE” from your vocabulary.
- Practice listening. Real listening. Take time everyday to listen without any commentary. Listening is a source of great power.
- Trust is essential. If you don’t have it, take baby steps to cultivate with determination and sincerity.
- Real power resides in honesty and truthfulness. Get inwardly aligned so your outer world becomes aligned.
- Greasing your goals and actions with faith will amplify results thousands of times over.
- Ask yourself what you will do today to make the world a better place.
- Hard work is essential on the road to enlightenment and personal fulfillment.
The Speech “We choose to go to the moon.”
On September 12, 1962, President Kennedy delivered his speech before a crowd of 35,000 people in the Rice University football stadium. The most quoted portion of the speech is in the middle:
“We set sail on this new sea because there is new knowledge to be gained, and new rights to be won, and they must be won and used for the progress of all people. For space science, like nuclear science and all technology, has no conscience of its own. Whether it will become a force for good or ill depends on man, and only if the United States occupies a position of pre-eminence can we help decide whether this new ocean will be a sea of peace or a new terrifying theater of war. I do not say that we should or will go unprotected against the hostile misuse of space any more than we go unprotected against the hostile use of land or sea, but I do say that space can be explored and mastered without feeding the fires of war, without repeating the mistakes that man has made in extending his writ around this globe of ours.
We choose to go to the Moon! … We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win …”
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Photo Credit – Maria Hillier
