Are You Using Your Power Or Throwing It Away?

I recently wrote a short article for InspireMeToday.com and thought I’d share it here — not only because I think it’s a great message, but I’ve been so busy with our upcoming event, Engage Today 2009, I haven’t had a lot of writing time to update my blog!

As a quick personal update, this event is coming together quickly, and the people I’m blessed to be speaking to and working with is incredible.

This week alone, I brainstormed with Nathan Rosenberg, the Chief Marketing Officer of Virgin Canada (Richard Branson’s right-hand PR/marketing man for my great country), I did conference calls with Vishen Lakhiani of Mind Valley (a true genius) and Eben Pagan (one of the most forward-thinking business visionaries I know), spoke to the wild and crazy marketer Frank Kern, and caught up with several of the speakers and special guests that are coming to the event.

Life is crazy busy, but it has been fantastic. My business partner Kourosh and I are going 100 miles an hour, but the adrenaline is surging through us and we can’t wait to pull this momentous feat off!

Anyway, onto the point of the post. I just wrote this article (it’s not actually out yet) so I thought I’d share it with you, since I really believe that this power I speak of is the most potent we all have .. and sadly, the one that most people give away.

Enjoy.

The Greatest Power Within All Of Us

The greatest power that you hold is the power of choice, because every choice you make dictates every result you get in your life – good or bad. And most importantly, every decision you make starts in your mind.

All of us start out with this incredible power, yet so many give it away by refusing to step up and be accountable for their decisions. Sadly, most people choose to be a victim of circumstances and others, and never recognize that they are choosing that position.

Look at some of the most successful people in the world, or even those that are around you, and you’ll find one thing in common – those who are consistently successful and happy do not choose the role of victim.

Allowing yourself to take on that role robs you of your ability to change your circumstance. As long as you feel that the problem or reason is “outside of you”, you instantly yield your personal power, and become the result of someone else’s choices. The moment you decide it’s your responsibility, the world literally shifts for you.

I began practicing one of the most powerful habits I have a few years ago, every time I ran into a situation where something didn’t go the way I had hoped. Instead of looking around for someone to blame, or some excuse to justify it, I would simply ask myself, “What role did I play in this?”

While most of us would like to believe it’s “never our fault” when things go wrong, the fact is we almost always have some responsibility when things go wrong. Whether it’s a business relationship, a marriage, or anything else, the willingness to accept your part is the difference between living in power, or living in regret.

When you’re honest with yourself, you’ll find a lot of situations where you did play a part .. and the moment you’re willing to accept it, that allows you to then learn from that experience.

You get to choose whether you play the victim, or the victor – and your understanding of the power of choice will dictate almost everything happens in your life!

You are making choices every minute of your life – what to think about next, how to feel, where to place your attention, and what you’re going to say. The quality of your life is determined simply by the choices that you make along the way.

Want to change your life?

Change the quality of your decisions, and embrace the incredible power you have to change your circumstances.

This may sound too simple to be true, but the fact remains that whether something that happens to you is good or bad is based on whether you choose to think of it as good or bad.

Most of us have the experience that when something negative happens to us, later in time (with hindsight) we look back and recognize that what we perceived originally as negative .. turned out to be one of the greatest things that happened to us!

Don’t underestimate the gift you’ve been given to be able to make choices in your life. It’s what makes each of us unique, and also gives every one of us the ability to make anything want of our life – all we have to do is truly choose to live a life of wonder, and the universe will set those things into motion to help you make it happen.

“Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.”
– Goethe

http://www.biancazoie.com bianca

Hello Greg,
You are so right. We, many times out of habit easily slide into the BIG V– victim role. Once in that black hole mentality it is difficult to get ourselves out of it to really see clearly… and the opportunity that is in front of us.

One thing I have done recently with my mangers is to have him see something as A SITUATION, and then for use to go back at what roles each participant played to CREATE the situation../instead of the problem. When we began to do this, we actually acknowledge what mistakes we may have made, and then could re- address them. This did several things, it took away the “problem mentality”, eliminated being a victim, eliminated the “blame game”, gave us the opportunity to accept ourselves as human, make amends and make corrections — AND MOVE ON.

I am certainly trying to use this approach on my own life, and as I do this, I am less apt to “guilt” myself into not being perfect. .. which is where lots of blame comes from, I think.

I am so happy for you with the great success and good energies happening with Engage Today 2009.

Best wishes, Bianca
http://www.profitdrivers.ca cathyaron

Thanks for the reminder Greg! The word of the week is CHOICE! I am making a conscious choice today to ask for help (not one of my better skills, I am working on that). I have been operating my business for one year and MUST focus on growth. Who would you recommend to talk to about business model options? Primarily want to expand the sales force as in “managing directors” that have ownership or licensing for territory. This is a key component as I must include it in my Business Plan.

I am grateful for any suggestions you may have.

http://www.simplewealth.com/blog greg

The best guys I know that specifically teach business strategy and growth (that have home study programs) are Eben Pagan (altitudeprogram.com) and Rich Schefren (strategicprofits.com). If you’re looking for a live program, Keith Cunningham is a good friend of mine (keystothevault.com) and Strategic Coach is also excellent. All offer tremendous programs with incredible content. Among the truly best in the world.

kingsley

Hi Greg, thanks for your inspirational messages.

I really would love to be involved in Engage Today 2009 as a volunteer of some sort. Are there areas that your team requires assistance with? Who do I speak to? I am a REIN member as well…

http://www.simplewealth.com/blog greg

Send an email to our office (service (at) simplewealth dot com) or call (403) 215-7500. Speak to Taryn and she can take your name for the list.

http://www.hangingoutforthehealthofit.com drcmgonzalez

Thanks for that great article/blog. I wrote a similar article a while back and have plans to write a book on the subject. I hope to meet you in Calgary….we have a lot of messages to get out to the world.
dymark

The “power of choice” has consequences as you explained very well. I am grateful that you chose to attend the REIN meeting last year for that “uncertain” presentation that delivered answers that I needed and landed you a book deal! Your energy and charisma for that short period of time plus all the downloads that I have listned to and blogs read have allowed me to “stand” here today anticipating YOUR ENGAGE TODAY 2009 conference. Well, Standing is the challenge since I broke my RIGHT foot 10 days ago. I am so grateful, I have my hands to work on the Real Estate Business and your conference to look forward to, as NOTHING will get in my way. I am making it my reward to getting better!
Your inspiration is contagious! I love it! I thank YOU and YOUR TEAM! BRAVO ! MERCI!