How to Stop Giving Away Your Power
People always say you shouldn’t give away your power. But what does that really mean and why does it happen? Let’s look at one of the reasons people “give away their power,” three areas where it happens most often, and how accessing your inner knowing, or intuition, can bring about a very different result.
The origin of this particular kind of power abdication is in the cluster of feelings that includes:
- I’m not good enough
- I don’t know enough or I’m not smart enough
- I don’t have what I need within me to accomplish my goals
- For some, the preceding feelings are compounded by the need to conform to others’ rules in order to survive
What gets really interesting is when one interacts with some kind of authority from this cluster of “I don’t know enough” feelings. Often, the response is to just accept whatever the authority says. There are three big arenas in society where this interaction happens often:
- Healthcare
- Spirituality/religion
- Economics/politics
Obviously, these arenas are so complex that no one can possibly know every detail within them. However, this feeling that “I don’t know enough” blocks one’s ability to listen to their intuition or feel that they can learn enough to make a good decision independently. So, they just go with the authority, sometimes blindly. (You can learn how much you tend towards this powerlessness by taking a free personality pattern test.)
The intensity of “I don’t know enough” can vary from area to area. For instance, you might be really in touch with your body and how it works, feel like you know what’s right for you spiritually, but then be completely overwhelmed by politics, feeling like there is no way for you to understand public policy decisions.
When clients bring this issue to me, we talk about their natural inner knowing, which includes intuition, and its ability to bring them to the best answer for themselves. They work on unlearning the feeling of, “I don’t know enough,” which uncovers their connection with inner knowing. This connection is possible for each of us—we only need to remove the negative feelings that block it.
A shift toward natural, inner knowing can take many different forms. It could involve, say, being more in tune with your body’s natural needs, instead of feeling like you have to comply with every single nutrition news release. Or, it might be that your well-being leads you to the perfect expert or information source. For instance, someone mentions a book or doctor out of the blue, or you happen to run across an article that is exactly the information you need. You may find more confidence in understanding and even speaking up for solutions to complex societal issues. I have seen all of these outcomes and many more in myself and among my clients.
You might even find that you already have resources within you. Recently, a client faced a professional situation in which someone opposed everything my client said. My client was very frustrated and felt powerless to do his work. As he started to shift toward his inner knowing, he was able to bring forward considerable professional experience that brought new perspective to the situation. And, as he felt more confident in what he knew, the other man responded by relaxing and feeling more comfortable in collaborating.
Are you aware of this “I don’t know enough” feeling within yourself? Where does it crop up and in what way does it trouble you? You can gain more insight and find out how you can take back your power by taking this free, personality pattern test.
Sara Avery is the Executive Director of Quanta Change, and she’s been guiding people through this process for the past 16 years. Click to get your free, personalized SQ report and to sign up for a free, 30-minute call with her to learn the kinds of positive changes you will see by unlearning the feeling that you don’t know enough.