“Do you know where the power lies? It starts and ends with you.” – Tim Armstrong
If I can be honest, a long, drawn-out article about your power will not put it any better than that quote by Tim Armstrong (from the track The 11th Hour off “…And Out Come The Wolves”).
It’s such a strong and succinct point.
You have the power to make anything happen. If you don’t believe this is true the problem stems from the fact that you’re too far in your head and lacking confidence. You’re not giving yourself enough credit or you’re making excuses.
Any answer to any question you have is available to you.
Maybe you’re in the position of not knowing what you don’t know. We all find ourselves in this position at one time or another.
If you don’t know where to start, start at what you think is a good place to start. There is absolutely nothing wrong with making a bit of a guess.
25 thoughts on “Do You Know Where The Power Lies?”
To start this with a Rancid quote. Just sick. And damn right, change starts with you. You can’t have influence over the world till you have influence over yourself. Chuuuuch (in Snoop Dogg drawl)
:) Thanks Greg!
So true. I think that’s what makes it so hard sometimes – understanding that no one can do it for you. We need to take responsibility for our actions if we expect to have a say in the outcome.
I really do have the power to change. We all do. I have to remind myself of this constantly. Thanks for putting it so simply here :)
Thanks Deb. That’s exactly it. We need to take responsibility for our actions (or inactions). :)
Tiny tangent, but I think this is why it’s ok (and should be encouraged) to make mistakes as long as you stay aware of them – because at least you’re then learning to exert your own power in making the decisions that lead there.
Yessir. I’m all about making mistakes. :) Fail fast!
2% of the time that I’m feeling overwhelmed by choices I just pick one and go with it. I figure out pretty quickly what the next step is. It’s amazing how powerful you feel when you’re making your own choices, even if they’re “mistakes.” (The other 98% of the time I completely forget to do this, and remain paralyzed by inaction. Hey, it’s a process.)
Hey Antonia!
That’s exactly the goal. If you’ve got 2 or more decent options, just pick one and go for it. :)
Karol
Whenever I lose motivation for any goal I’m working on I just come visit this site and read some of the articles here. The thing I love about you bloggers is that you always link to other interesting articles on either your site or other sites.. and then those articles link to articles of interest as well and so on.. Before I know it.. I have literally 10-15 tabs open of things I want to read!
By the end of it, I’m usually completely pumped to go back to what I was doing.. and I’ve generally found 2 or 3 new blogs to subscribe to while I’m at it!
Thanks J! I appreciate you doing that. I do it as well. ;)
Dead on!
Love the pic — did you really just find that? Perfect!
It’s been a steep learning curve but I’ll be launching my first blog in the coming week.
Question –
WordPress for sure. Any tips or recommendations and/or links to an easily modifiable template with good SEO? Or do I just brave the wilderness out there; fels a bit like throwing a dark when your back is facing the board. Ah well_someone once said, “If you’re not making mistakes it’s because you’re not doing much”, or words to that effect.
Bravely onward,
Pat
Yes’m, found it on flickr where I find all my pics. It did take a good 15 minutes to find it though.
I use Thesis theme so I can’t strongly recommend anything other than that. Don’t let a fancy theme stop you though. Get at it!
Hey Pat,
Check out this Lifehacker article for some great advice on general settings and plugins to use when you’re setting up a wordpress account. It really comes in handy when you don’t know or forget what your site needs!
Just what I needed to read this morning. I went to sleep reminding myself that there is only ONE source, but there are many channels through which the sustenance comes. My connection to that source is through my ability to make decisions.
Here I am receiving validation. (wait that is overvalued, isn’t it) Never mind, I know what I know, and I know that I know it. And that’s ALL I need to KNOW.
Rasheed
That’s great Rasheed. Thank you for sharing your thoughts! :)
I love this post! At first I wanted to be annoyed because it was so short, but you’re absolutely right anything more would be fluff and it speaks for itself. Just a point in the right direction and a kick in the ass to say, “see it really is this simple”. Everything else that stops you is an excuse. Taking the first step is hard, but it shouldn’t be. Why do we over think, over dramatize and just over do everything in our heads! And then it hit me, we do it as another excuse. Another way to stop ourselves from succeeding. That old fear thing. Can we just kick fear’s ass once and for all and be done with. Instead of being afraid of failing, maybe we could be afraid of not failing, which at least is a step in the right direction and would motivate us to do something. Thanks for once again smacking me upside the head and reminding me that I must keep moving forward or accept that nothing will change. The choice is up to me.
Great post! I agree that if we don’t know where to start we must take the leap regardless. In essence, we will never be anywhere but our present situation, which means we may never have the “ideal” circumstances to begin, and for this reason we must accept that clarity will come with action. The more we do, the more we learn, and better of a system we can develop.
Thanks
Thanks for adding this Joe: “The more we do, the more we learn, and better of a system we can develop.” That is such a great point and it’s actually the crux of an article I wrote about Learning By Doing (plan on posting it Thursday).
Thanks for this. There is a situation brewing that I don’t like and I have many ideas on how to improve it. Then the poison thoughts come in–“But I’m not qualified.” “No one will listen to me anyway.” I think I’m gonna give this a shot.
Have a great day, Karol!
Thanks Lynne,
We all get those poisonous thoughts sometimes. No worries. Just let them pass. ;)
To start this with a Rancid quote. Just sick. And damn right, change starts with you. You can’t have influence over the world till you have influence over yourself. Chuuuuch (in Snoop Dogg drawl)
:) Thanks Greg!
So true. I think that’s what makes it so hard sometimes – understanding that no one can do it for you. We need to take responsibility for our actions if we expect to have a say in the outcome.
I really do have the power to change. We all do. I have to remind myself of this constantly. Thanks for putting it so simply here :)
Thanks Deb. That’s exactly it. We need to take responsibility for our actions (or inactions). :)
Tiny tangent, but I think this is why it’s ok (and should be encouraged) to make mistakes as long as you stay aware of them – because at least you’re then learning to exert your own power in making the decisions that lead there.
Yessir. I’m all about making mistakes. :) Fail fast!
2% of the time that I’m feeling overwhelmed by choices I just pick one and go with it. I figure out pretty quickly what the next step is. It’s amazing how powerful you feel when you’re making your own choices, even if they’re “mistakes.” (The other 98% of the time I completely forget to do this, and remain paralyzed by inaction. Hey, it’s a process.)
Hey Antonia!
That’s exactly the goal. If you’ve got 2 or more decent options, just pick one and go for it. :)
Karol
Whenever I lose motivation for any goal I’m working on I just come visit this site and read some of the articles here. The thing I love about you bloggers is that you always link to other interesting articles on either your site or other sites.. and then those articles link to articles of interest as well and so on.. Before I know it.. I have literally 10-15 tabs open of things I want to read!
By the end of it, I’m usually completely pumped to go back to what I was doing.. and I’ve generally found 2 or 3 new blogs to subscribe to while I’m at it!
Thanks J! I appreciate you doing that. I do it as well. ;)
Dead on!
Love the pic — did you really just find that? Perfect!
It’s been a steep learning curve but I’ll be launching my first blog in the coming week.
Question –
WordPress for sure. Any tips or recommendations and/or links to an easily modifiable template with good SEO? Or do I just brave the wilderness out there; fels a bit like throwing a dark when your back is facing the board. Ah well_someone once said, “If you’re not making mistakes it’s because you’re not doing much”, or words to that effect.
Bravely onward,
Pat
Yes’m, found it on flickr where I find all my pics. It did take a good 15 minutes to find it though.
I use Thesis theme so I can’t strongly recommend anything other than that. Don’t let a fancy theme stop you though. Get at it!
Hey Pat,
Check out this Lifehacker article for some great advice on general settings and plugins to use when you’re setting up a wordpress account. It really comes in handy when you don’t know or forget what your site needs!
http://lifehacker.com/5365600/the-beginners-guide-to-tricking-out-your-wordpress-blog
-Casey Friday
Just what I needed to read this morning. I went to sleep reminding myself that there is only ONE source, but there are many channels through which the sustenance comes. My connection to that source is through my ability to make decisions.
Here I am receiving validation. (wait that is overvalued, isn’t it) Never mind, I know what I know, and I know that I know it. And that’s ALL I need to KNOW.
Rasheed
That’s great Rasheed. Thank you for sharing your thoughts! :)
I love this post! At first I wanted to be annoyed because it was so short, but you’re absolutely right anything more would be fluff and it speaks for itself. Just a point in the right direction and a kick in the ass to say, “see it really is this simple”. Everything else that stops you is an excuse. Taking the first step is hard, but it shouldn’t be. Why do we over think, over dramatize and just over do everything in our heads! And then it hit me, we do it as another excuse. Another way to stop ourselves from succeeding. That old fear thing. Can we just kick fear’s ass once and for all and be done with. Instead of being afraid of failing, maybe we could be afraid of not failing, which at least is a step in the right direction and would motivate us to do something. Thanks for once again smacking me upside the head and reminding me that I must keep moving forward or accept that nothing will change. The choice is up to me.
:) This made me laugh: “I wanted to be annoyed” – it’s all part of our conditioning. We’re conditioned to believe more words = better content. Usually, more words = more fluff. http://www.ridiculouslyextraordinary.com/refine-your-signal-or-fuck-the-fluff/
Thanks for sharing your thoughts Sarah!
Wonderful :)
Thank you Faisal! :)
Great post! I agree that if we don’t know where to start we must take the leap regardless. In essence, we will never be anywhere but our present situation, which means we may never have the “ideal” circumstances to begin, and for this reason we must accept that clarity will come with action. The more we do, the more we learn, and better of a system we can develop.
Thanks
Thanks for adding this Joe: “The more we do, the more we learn, and better of a system we can develop.” That is such a great point and it’s actually the crux of an article I wrote about Learning By Doing (plan on posting it Thursday).
Thanks for this. There is a situation brewing that I don’t like and I have many ideas on how to improve it. Then the poison thoughts come in–“But I’m not qualified.” “No one will listen to me anyway.” I think I’m gonna give this a shot.
Have a great day, Karol!
Thanks Lynne,
We all get those poisonous thoughts sometimes. No worries. Just let them pass. ;)
Cheers,
Karol