Last Updated on August 24, 2019

 “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.”

–Henry Ford

Have you noticed how some people just know they’re the boss?

They have no question it’s them. Furthermore, everyone knows they’re the boss.

Everyone else defers to them. There’s no question that everyone else is NOT the boss.

Did you ever wonder why it works that way?

Why doesn’t everyone wake up one day and just decide they’re the boss? Why doesn’t everyone eventually wake up and just say they’re the boss?

We know there are millions of companies, so there are millions of bosses. We know it’s reasonable to expect that anyone could be a boss. So why isn’t everyone a boss?

The reason is simple, maybe even obvious. Once you grasp it, you will see there’s really nothing you can’t have or create in the universe. It’s ridiculously simple. It’s deceptively simple. Yet, despite its simplicity, without the key ingredient, the transformation is impossible.

Just as cement without water is only a fine powder, and bread dough without leavening yields only a cracker, the magical ingredient seems deceptively simple, yet it’s the absolutely most important thing in the world for creating magical transformation.

Power is a choice

The difference between the boss and the rest of the team is a choice. The boss chose to be the boss.

Then s/he applied for the job.

The people who choose the boss agreed, and they chose him/her as the boss.

When they hired or chose the boss, they told everyone else, and everybody else agreed she was the boss, too (because they are conditioned to do so). They chose her as the boss.

Anyone who disagreed had the opportunity to choose her as boss or to leave, and they eventually chose. This is where the system begins to reinforce the choices made inside the system — we’ll talk more about this later.

After all the choices, the boss was the boss. It was that simple.

There’s only 2 things you need to do:

1. Have an open mind.

2. Just be prepared to have a go.

–Graham Shaw

She made the choice, then she was the boss

The difference between the boss and anyone else is a choice, followed by a cascade of choices.

Any place you want a different result in your life, it must begin with a choice, by you, to have that result.

You don’t even have to believe it’s immediately possible. You just have to choose it. Then you have to choose to see what would be necessary for it to become possible.

You have to believe it could be possible. If you know of other people who’ve done something like it, it’s usually easy to believe.

“If you think you can win, you can win. Faith is necessary to victory.”

–William Hazlitt

Alternatively, as long as you choose to be anything other than the boss…

You will continue to be whatever else it is you’ve chosen to be.

Get it?

“Many of the poor choices and decisions I have made were not the result of a lack of knowledge or intellect, they were a result of a lack of character. I always knew the right path, without exception, I was just to weak, afraid, and lacked the courage and conviction to take it.”

–Hary Petsanis

Whether you did it consciously or not, you’ve made choices to become what or who you are today. Congratulations! You are almost certainly who you chose to be.

At the same time, if you’re here, it may be that you’re ready to make another choice and seek a transformation from where you are.

Congratulations!

You’re making another choice, and you will be rewarded for it!

The difference between high achievers and everyone else.

High Achievers Choose Power.

That is all.

I’m not saying all choices will inevitably lead to success.

I don’t know if a fish can competently ride a bicycle, even if the fish chooses to do so.

However, I am certain the fish will never ride the bicycle until it chooses to do so.

I also know a human who chooses to help a fish ride a bicycle will quickly have a fish riding a bicycle.

“Make sure your worst enemy doesn’t live between your two ears.”

–Laird Hamilton

Claim Your Power Despite Fear.

“…you’ll carry the fear of failure with you each second because deep down, you’ll realize that you yourself had never been taught better.”

–Evelyn Lozada

Any time you face a new choice or direction, fear will be present. This is human. We all experience fear.

The path from fear to results has only one step: action.

Any successful initiative is the result of people who overcame their fear and took action.

Even successful speakers and entertainers report fear before performance.

The only difference between themselves and unsuccessful speakers and entertainers: they take action every time they experience fear.

Unsuccessful speakers and entertainers are stopped by their fear.

“There is no place for fear.”

–Johanna Nordblad

Here’s your first assignment. Practice claiming your power:

Promise yourself you’ll take powerful, intentional action when you notice you are experiencing fear, anxiety, or excitement.

I’ll wait.

Say to yourself, “In moments of fear, I’ll take action anyway.”

Write it down.

Again, I’ll wait.

That’s a good stopping point for now.

In the next segment, we’ll discuss how to claim your power.

Recap of this lesson segment

1. Power is a choice
2. Like it or not, all too often, lack of power is a choice, either recently or in the distant past
3. High achievers choose power in their areas of achievement

Results

Now you have a Power Board with a written commitment you made to yourself to act despite fear.

Progress Checkpoint

Answer these questions in writing (just a sentence or two apiece will do) and include the result in your PowerBoard:

1. What was most valuable for you in this lesson?
2. Describe something you learned that you did not know before.
3. Describe something you did that you hadn’t done before?
4. Name something you created that you hadn’t created before?
5. Describe a result you delivered that you hadn’t delivered before.

Next: Be Powerful

For More Information

• Why people believe they can’t draw – and how to prove they can – Graham Shaw – TEDxHull
• Some successful entertainers who experience fear before performance
• Mini-bios via:
  • Henry Ford: Wikipedia
  • William Hazlitt: Wikipedia
  • Harry Petsanis: himself
  • Laird Hamilton: Wikipedia
  • Evelyn Lozada: Wikipedia
  • Johanna Nordblad: Wikipedia
• Learn more here about effective use of Power Board dashboards.

Image Credits

• Woman doing pull-up: Photo by Scott Webb on Unsplash.
• Henry Ford:By Hartsook, photographer. – This image is available from the United States Library of Congress‘s Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID cph.3c11278, Public Domain, Link.
• William Hazlitt: Self-portrait by William Hazlitt – Portraiture in the Oxford DNB, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Public Domain, Link.
• Harry Petsanis: Photo courtesy Harry Petsanis.
• Laird Hamilton: By Nancy from Los Angeles, USA – Laird Hamilton, CC BY-SA 2.0, Link.
• Evelyn Lozada attends Cosmopolitan Magazine’s Fun Fearless Males Of 2011 at The Mandarin Oriental Hotel on March 7, 2011 in New York City. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images). Link.
• Johanna Nordblad: By Fulmarke – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link.

Also published on Medium.