Power: You’ve Got It!

A few weeks ago my friend sent me Hitler pictures.

Lots of Hitler pictures.

Many showing the way Germany’s leader drew masses of people. And it got me to thinking about the personal power he had; his capacity to convince so many souls to follow him, or fear him. Had Hitler been a benevolent leader, think of the positive changes he could have made.

But we know his story, and that’s not what I’m writing about.

I’m writing about YOUR personal power, and mine. I’m writing about what it is, and how we get it.

And I’m writing about how we lose it.

First, what IS personal power?

In my opinion, personal power is our ability to get what we want.

If it takes others to help us achieve our goals, we must convince them to support us. Why do some people have that skill and others don’t?

But that’s not a fair question. All of us get help along the way and acquire things. It’s the DEGREE of achievement that sets apart one person from another.

Yes, some people have the ability to sway huge masses of people, from a fan club to a workforce to a nation.

How do they do that?

How do some people become the best in the world? Of course it’s practice and determination.

But that’s not enough.

There’s something else that the very best winners have, and do. And here’s what it is:

World leaders in politics, sports, entertainment, finance, religion, whatever, rise to the top because they BELIEVE they deserve it.

They BELIEVE they can achieve it.

And they have confidence about their beliefs. Then they do what they do, say what they say, practice-practice-practice, and they never give up.

I’m sure many of you have read or heard this message before. But it’s worth being reminded. Achieving anything, whether it’s power, fame, riches, or love, is a head trip. It’s a concept. And it takes FAITH to believe you have it before you have it. Or… it takes denial, or conceit, or greed, or lust, or tranquility or fearlessness or passion.

To win, it takes an emotionally charged focus of attention without ever questioning the outcome. The moment DOUBT enters the mind, the potential goal moves further away, and the more difficult it is to convince others that your vision supersedes theirs.

Belief and confidence – that’s it…the ingredients for personal power.

How a Tiger Earns – and Loses – His Stripes

TIGER WOODS, from the little I know about him, was raised to believe he could excel in golf.

And we know he did.

For years there was Tiger Woods, and everyone else on the course behind him. And then…came his fall from grace. He was publicly pilloried, ridiculed and humiliated for his philandering and sexual cheating.

And what happened to his golf game? He lost it. He lost his ability to win. But what else did he lose? He lost his ability to focus on the game. He lost the belief that he was a winner, and that he DESERVED TO BE A WINNER. And then his confidence broke down.

Very little of value can be created without confidence. Yet for every Tiger Woods there’s a come-back story!

So how do you RESTORE confidence when you’ve lost it, or never had it?

You build confidence by never giving up. You just keep trying and trying. And eventually you get a single baby-step success, which gives you the incentive to try again. When another small success is achieved you can look back and say, “Humm, maybe I can do this. I should keep going.”

And so you do.

And bigger goals are reached, which lets you believe that it’s not impossible to win!

FACT: If you’re not at the table playing your hand, there’s no way you can move up in the game. You’ve got to pull up a chair and say, “Howdy. I’m in.”

Whether you believe you can win or not, you’ve got to get your butt out of bed and look at your cards! Everyone has cards. Play them!

And here’s a secret that will get you to the game:

Just playing is winning.

Yep! Because if you were scared to play for the fear of losing or rejection, but you got yourself to fill out that resume or write that first chapter, or enter that contest, THAT in itself builds confidence. THAT is achievement! And the more you do it, the easier it becomes. And the more chances you have to win.

I can now make cold calls without my palms heating up, because I’ve made so many. I may not land the job, but if I’ve made that conversation pleasant for the other person on the line, those few ingratiating minutes will be a reward for both of us. Kind words are not forgotten.

The process becomes the prize, leading to bigger ones later.

When I’m not blogging and writing under the name of Irving Podolsky, I work in Hollywood as a freelance “something else.”

I’m in the soup watching everyone, and I can tell you that all the players in the film business are looking for the job, the movie, or the money for the movie.

And once they get the money, and the movie gets made, they’re looking for the audience.

Everybody needs everybody else, and we’re all calling each other! If we didn’t believe that at some point, somebody would say ‘YES’ to our wants, no movies would get made. Nothing would get made.

So big movies get made. Little movies get made. And large and small audiences come to see them. There are big wins. There are small wins. And they are all important.

Don’t fall into the trap of making your SCALE OF WINNING the barometer of your value. If you do, you will never win enough, be rich enough, powerful enough, envied enough, loved enough to fill that vacuum. And there will always be someone better than you.

Striving for a personal best? Sure.

Striving to dominate the rest in your class? Try it.

But if you get it, be prepared to eventually step down, because someone else will take your place.

Can you live with that? If yes, great. If no, recognize that you are significant no matter what you do. You make a difference, although it might be subtle. And if you play honestly and fairly, and are kind to others, you deserved to be loved and respected. And you will be.

So remember, you have all the power you need to become and have anything you want. It’s a question of confidence, for anything is possible if you BELIEVE it is.

That’s the way it works, and it’s the magic of life.