3 Ways You Are Giving Your Power Away and How to Take It Back

When projected into the world, our power determines the quality of our lives. Cultivating a healthy self-confidence is key in harnessing and mastering our power. So, the more we accept stepping into a positive self-esteem and a powerful identity, the easier it is for us to create wealth and success.

If sometimes you find yourself believing less in your abilities and losing confidence, it might be that you’ve been unconsciously, or consciously, giving away your power. Here are three ways many of us hand their power to others:

"I DON'T KNOW"

Decisions have the biggest power over our life. They define who we are today and what we’ll have tomorrow. Our “today” is nothing else than the result of a chain of many past decisions. So, if you want to have control over your life, you’ll have to master the art of making decisions.

We make more than 30,000 conscious decisions each day. It can feel overwhelming. But avoiding them or letting others decide on your behalf means you are giving your power away.

That’s true, even when it comes to making the smallest choices answering questions like: “What would you like to have for dinner?”, “Where would you like to seat?”, “What movie would you like to see?”

Nothing is easier than a fast “I don’t know”.

You may think that you only give away control for trivial or mundane things, but your subconscious does not differentiate between the size of the decision. The agony of indecision is the death of self-confidence. Be decisive in every choice, whether you care deeply or you care less.

SEEKING VALIDATION FROM OTHERS

From a very early age, many of us are taught by our parents to be overly kind, to put others before ourselves, to be humble. With no intent, such advice can create damaging, self-sabotaging habits. In the quest for kindness, we end up wanting to involve the world in our stories’ validation. We believe that receiving validation makes our point stronger. Or maybe that it shows appreciation to the ones present. But, when doing so, the price paid is losing our personal power.

Have you caught yourself seeking the opinions of others about your thoughts? Or maybe about your actions? If yes, then you are giving the power of your words, or decisions, to them. There's no harm in giving room for the opinions of others but have a valid opinion too. Ask yourself these questions:

"Do I trust what I just said?” , "If not, where are my doubts coming from?"

Once becoming aware of your habit, it will be easy to leave it behind. When you learn to stand by your opinions and decisions, when you learn to tell your stories with confidence and conviction, you unconsciously command respect from people.

PUTTING YOURSELF DOWN IN FRONT OF OTHERS

I’ve seen this happening just too often. Too easily and too often, we permit others to look down on us by throwing away fast thoughtless comments like, "I'm not good at this", "I could never do that", "I'm just a beginner", "I don't know much"...

The way we behave is so crafty and subtle that we don't even notice the effect it has on our self-esteem.

If you want to build up your confidence refrain from using devaluing statements on yourself. Interrupt the negative self-talk right in its track before it comes out. Be mindful of your words and the way you use them; they cast a powerful spell.

NOW THAT YOU ARE AWARE, TAKE BACK YOUR POWER

Be conscious about the things you do, say, and believe. Learn to turn your indecision, need for validation, and negative thoughts into your positive power. You always have a choice; therefore, choose to master your power. Remember, the more decisive and firmer you become, the more control and power you'll have.