Personal Power: A step away from the ego

What is Personal Power? (Level: Advanced)

Personal power is a person's attitude or state of mind rather than an attempt to maneuver or control others. Its primary aim is self-mastery: competence, vision, positive personal (human) qualities, and service. 

It is collecting any areas in your life that you feel are holding you back. Recreating the relationship with yourself and others, freeing yourself in the process.  Being accountable for your actions and your feelings.

The Ego & Stories:  "When the ego dies, the soul awakens."- Mahatma Gandhi 

The ego tells you stories all day long based on past lived experience.

The entire purpose of the ego is to keep you “safe”. It seeks to protect you from what you feel like is danger (consciously & unconsciously): the unknown. Even if we are holding onto patterns, behaviors, and beliefs that no longer serve us, the ego grips tightly to them. It is its identity and purpose. If we let them go, we’d begin to create a new reality.

A new reality feels like danger to the ego.

To release our ego stories, we need to create the space between us + the stories. We need to become the witness, observing stories without judgment. Just watching these stories come and go. The more we practice being the observer, the more this space grows. The more the space grows the less reactive + defensive we are to life events. The less we personalize people’s behavior that never was about us.

Our ego settles. As it settles, it’s less fragile. It doesn’t feel like disagreement or criticism is a threat to our sense of self. This takes consistent practices + active awareness. Our reward is the ability to respond + create life on our own terms rather than being a slave to the egos obsessive desire to defend it’s self image. Our freedom comes when we allow people their own perception without the ego's call to manage their perceptions.

 It is evident so far that although the ego-sense is a distortion of perception, it does not mean that one should treat oneself with contempt; quite the opposite, because there is no difference between true self-esteem and loving kindness towards others.

Writing out our ego stories and  just being conscious of them is healing in itself. 

Here is the format I tell my clients: Write this letter when you are in a good mental space with peace. Where you are open to receive a new perspective. Possibly mornings are your time or evenings or even right now choose a time and get ready to dig deep. As we progress in therapy I would like you to live in the NOW and focus on being present and seizing every opportunity to live life now. By writing this letter you will discover something about yourself in the process but the motivation behind this letter should be about dispelling the story you've told yourself that contributed to an inauthentic way and being and a breakdown in connection with someone that is meaningful to you.

"The destructive forces of ego combined with our negative emotions is a lethal formula "reducing our sensitivity to others" and "causing immense destruction." 

Lets Begin:

I want you to look at your life. I want you to dig deep into your subconscious mind. I want you to be open to exploring areas of your life that are meaningful to you, that you experience a loss of power, or freedom, or even loss of self expression. 

I want you to pause and take a moment to really think about that area. 

Whether you are aware of it or not. This is an area where you are being inauthentic.

It's only about being authentic about your inauthenticity that you can access new possibilities for your life created by imagination and compassion.

Everytime you expand your ability to be authentic about being inauthentic you create an opportunity to invent a new possibility for your life.

Maybe it's in the areas of relationships, finances, your career or even your health (mental and physical). Let's explore first and foremost we do that by taking ownership of our life. 

I've been pretending that.....

When in fact.....

The impact of this inauthentic way and being and acting.....

The whole time I've been being and acting this way, what's been missing is any sense of...

Standing there, the possibility I am creating for myself and my life is the possibility of....

In Personal Power therapy any relationship can be healed if two people are involved in the new possibilities for the relationship. But even if your letter does not get you a response, what is more impactful is your freedom and peace from it. With no need for approval or acceptance, just a peace that is left with you that surpasses understanding.  It is evident so far that although the ego-sense is a distortion of perception, it does not mean that one should treat oneself with contempt; quite the opposite, because there is no difference between true self-esteem and loving kindness towards others. -Buddhism Teachings 

Resources Referenced:

The LandMark Forum

The Holistic Psychologist 

Bible (Philippians 4:7)

Mahatma Gandhi 

Buddha