by Annette Hatton

Created on: June 29, 2010   Last Updated: July 23, 2010

Your Personal Power Doubled

Life is all about self-development and to that end we either live our life in a rut spinning our wheels going nowhere or we constantly develop and increase our personal power. The most daunting problem in the world today is we believe ourselves powerless. Personal power is a multi-faceted concept that has to do with the ability communicate and control the environment around us, to decide who is included in our circle of friends and take charge of what we believe and what we do not believe. 

Lao Tzu, Chinese Philosopher said, “Individuals who do not feel personal power feel fear. Tyrants do not feel power, they feel frustration and impotency.”

Want to develop your personal power? Maybe double it? Apply these ten communication interaction suggestions.

1. I

The selfish, egotistic “I” can raze, tear apart, an otherwise good conversational interaction. Conversation, the life-blood of interaction, contains two component skills, listening and speaking. Mastering both unlocks success. To master the art of conversation forget “I.”

Conversation is like a one-way; we get to speak fifteen to thirty seconds before we are stopped to listen to oncoming dialogue that may be ten-minutes long. Our part means patience, listening long and speaking briefly. People dominant conversations because their tyrannical “I” needs to feel power. They need to feel liked and trusted.

Listening and hearing are two different things. We HEAR words as we do an emergency vehicle's siren, vibratory waves. LISTEN is feeling and sensing the emotions behind the words.

2. We

Interaction “we” is conveyed most often through body language. In the public arena no interaction should be so private as to exclude others. Include others when they walk up to your group by opening a space for them to join the conversation. Most people are so devoid of power they tend to dictate conversations and feel frustrated and out of control when they cannot dominate.

A way to open conversations to “we” is a technique found in Mykle Love's booklet, “Mind, Body and Soul Fasts.” For twenty-one consecutive days pay attention to your body language. Each time you find yourself in a closed group make an opening. If you slip, start the day count anew.

3. Ego

Ego is our self-image that often allows us to think ourselves as better than we really are. However, we who are ego-driven are actually enslaved by fear of rejection

• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next Page >>