Activating Inner Power to Go 100%

Some things we choose to go after require more than just external/physical energy and power.  If we want to go beyond 80% of the way to our goal, we need to dig deeper to activate our inner power.  That inner power can make the difference in whether or not we make it 100% of the way, as my previous post introduced.

Enlightened Warrior Training, via the teachings of T. Harv Eker, exposed me to a number of ways to activate more of my power.  Most of these will seem obvious to you.  I'll mention a few here that worked for me:

1.  Acknowledge the thoughts that create mental friction within you. 

If these thoughts diminish your power, let them go, "cancel," or pass ("Thanks, but no thanks.")  Our mind is there to protect us and keep us in a small comfort zone.  I mentioned a number of these phrases, in my previous post, that can take me out.  By consciously letting the limiting thoughts fade out, we can redirect our energy.

2.  Encourage yourself with positive self-talk.

Reframe negative words ("I can't do this) to "I can do this."  When I found one of the processes in my Warrior training to be large and daunting, I used the words, "I CLAIM this _____"  "This has my name on it."  I found that these words empowered me and fueled me when I felt challenged, and took me all the way.

3.  Use a Personal Success Motto

Seems obvious, doesn't it?  But if we haven't selected one, it's impossible to refer back to it when the going gets tough.  Here's a favorite of mine:  I can do anything, one step at a time. This works well, not just for huge goals or challenges, but for the essential, if ordinary, stuff that needs to get done.  Other examples:  "I rule fear - fear doesn't rule me."  "Nothing takes me out."  "Who dares, wins."  Create several of your own that resonate for you.

4.  Embrace a Challenge

Whether you're facing an obstacle, a big goal, or something way out of your comfort zone (that's why it's called a challenge!), avoid shrinking back, or running away.  During the training I mentioned above, I could feel myself, in the beginning, mentally shrinking back at some of the challenges I faced.  I learned to set that shrinking aside, take a breath, and take a stance of "bring it on."  "Bring it on" became a rallying cry for me.  It began in my head, traveled down my body, and eventually gripped my heart. 

The main point, do whatever works for you in getting started.  The rest of you will follow if you begin to embrace the challenge.

What would have happened if Chicken Soup for the Soul authors, Mark Victor Hansen and Jack Canfield, who have sold a gazillion books, gave up and didn't pursue publication of their first book, after being rejected by dozens and dozens of publishers?  Or Michael Jordan, NBA basketball legend supreme, whose high school basketball coach told him he didn't have what it takes to make varsity team?

Face the challenge - embrace it.  I believe doing so makes us "bigger."

5.  Ask for Support

One of my biggest takeaways from my Enlightened Warrior Training - my success is far greater when I ask for support.  One of my last challenge activities involved both individual effort and teamwork.  I found myself taking on a leadership role during the teamwork and guiding others to success.  Towards the end of the challenge, I was struggling in my individual efforts.  Team members offered support.  I initially turned them down ("I can handle this by myself.")  Finally, I realized what a moron I was.  I accepted their help, while doing the work by myself.  The result, I found unexpected "fuel" and finished fast and strong.

In returning to my "real" life, I've decided I need a whole team of people to help me make my latest career in real estate investment a success.  Most of the time in my life I haven't wanted to "bother" people.  Boy, was I wrong!  I realize by asking others, I learn.  The more I learn, the better I get.  The better I get, the more I can offer and contribute to others, including the people who helped me.

It takes a team to make a dream work.  I learned - it's a strength to ask for help.

6.  Focus on Contributing to Others

I discovered that when I'm tired, or afraid, helping others makes me feel better.  It's simple - in the act of helping others I help myself, and that feels much more powerful.

7.  Focus on Your Breath

Our energy changes when our breath changes.  If you need to raise your energy, take in faster, shorter breaths on the inhale.  To relax or slow down your energy level, exhale slowly and deeply.  If you find your mind racing, practice some deep exhalations.  And if you need energy quickly to deal with a physical challenge, take in the faster, shorter breaths.

8.  Take One Step at a Time

One sure way to cut off our power - leap ahead to the future and allow fear to strangle you with the "what ifs," the "buts," the "don't know hows," or the "can'ts."  Let's face it, attempting to inhale a goal or dream all at once cuts us off at the knees.  We don't have to have it all figured out ahead of time.

We activate our power, by taking action, one step at a time.  By focusing on one step at a time, fear doesn't exist in the present moment.

Here's a recent, ordinary example.  I attended a meeting in another town about 30 minutes away.  While there I decided to check out a real estate property.  I didn't know the area and didn't have a map.  I asked a couple of people at the meeting if they had a city map in their car.  Neither one did.  Before my training, I would have given up, gone home, told myself I would do Mapquest, and return at some later date.  Wrong.

Instead, I found the property, one step at at time.  I went to a gas station.  Bought a map.  Opened the map on the trunk of my car to find the street.  Wrote out directions.  Got in my car.  Traveled towards my destination.  Got 90% there.  Couldn't find the turnoff.  Pulled off the road twice to consult the map.  Got back on the road.  Tried a different way.  Found the street.  Found the property.  Went a step further - studied the street.  Counted the vacant homes; homes for sale, and homes for rent.  Checked out the surrounding streets.  Got the info I needed.  One step at time makes it doable.

9.  Just "Frickin" Do It!

I hereby proclaim that we should lobby to remove the word "try" from the dictionary.  When we say, "I'll try," or "I'll see if I can do that," we're giving ourselves an out.

When we just "frickin" do it, we commit ourselves without reserve.  And yes, the water may be cold when we jump into the deep end; we may not know how to do something perfectly; we may be nervous or afraid.  What we discover by just frickin doing it, is that we CAN do it.  We begin to feel more powerful.  Doing it gets us to the other side.  And darn if it doesn't feel even better there! 

So just "frickin" do it!

Right now you are just one choice away from a new beginning - one that leads you toward becoming the fullest human being you can be.

~ Oprah Winfrey

Comments

[Phil Gerbyshak]

Every point in here is SPOT ON! Thanks for sharing them all. I especially love "Just Frickin' Do It!" That's also a great personal success motto: I can...Just Frickin' Do It! Awesome!

And I completely agree that asking for help is critical. We can't do it alone. No way. Thanks for the reminders! This article is wonderful. Thank you for writing it!

[Jodee Bock]

Debbie: This is great stuff! You are a woman after my own heart. My book "The 100% Factor: Living Your Capacity" should be out in the next three weeks and it talks about a lot of similar ideas. Thanks for BEING who you're BEING!

[Kirsten Harrell, Psy.D.]

I loved this post! Great stuff...I can't even imagine where I would be without my own success mantras and the power of positive thinking. One step at a time is acutally one of my mantras or mottos. I have a tendency to get way ahead of myself and that can be overwhelming. Then I remember - one step at a time. That's the only way from point A to Z.

[Deb Call]

Kirsten, Jodee, and Phil - your comments demonstrate to me that you know how to go 100%. Bravo! Thanks for sharing so we can learn from one another.