Haanel wrote:
We cannot express powers that we do not possess. The only way by which we may secure possession of power is to become conscious of power. We can never become conscious of power until we learn that all power comes from within.
It is at this point we need to distinguish between power and authority. Often those two words are used interchangeably, yet they are quite distinctly different.
Authority, according to the dictionary, is
The power or right to enforce obedience
It is essentially external to the individual. A person may have authority, but only to the extent that it is given to them by someone, or somebody apart from themselves.
For example, a person may have the authority to preside over a large corporation. . That authority is given by the people who have a personal interest in the company, namely the shareholders.
A person may have the authority to preside over a country. That authority is given by the people who have a personal interest in the way the country is run, namely the citizens.
Alternatively, a person may claim the authority to rule over a country as a dictator, but only to the extent that those who maintain the dictatorship provide the support necessary to “enforce obedience” on the populace.
On a more personal scale a person may have authority over another either because the one with authority is the parent in the case of a child or has been given authority by the person concerned as may be the case in an elderly or disabled person.
The whole point is, authority comes from without. It is external.
Power, on the other hand has to do with ability. All power, as Haanel reminds us, comes from within. You have power; all the power you will ever need to live your life to the full. Unfortunately, many people have laid their power down and given over authority for their lives to someone else. No matter what the situation is now, that initial laying down of power was a matter of personal choice.
It may have been the ‘best of a bad lot’ compromise that has developed into something other than you had intended. It may have been a matter of choosing the line of least resistance. If you are in that position, you need to come to terms with the fact that someone else only has authority over you while you allow it. I am not inciting revolution here. Rather, I am talking from an individual perspective, although the principles work at all levels in which you operate.
Viktor Frankl wrote of this concept in his book “Man’s Search for Meaning”
We who lived in concentration camps can remember
the men who walked through the huts comforting others,
giving away their last piece of bread. They may have
been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof
that everything can be taken from a man but one thing:
the last of the human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude
in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.
Each one of us has that ability, the power to choose HOW WE WILL RESPOND TO WHATEVER HAPPENS TO US. We may not have a choice as to what actually happens. We do, however have the power to choose our response. And that is the essence of the power that we have. It’s part of the total package we came into this life with. So why not use it?
Many who happily lay down their power do so with the mistaken idea that by effectively handing their life over for someone else to manage they can avoid any personal responsibility. As a result those people never mature, never live their life to the full, never achieve anything of any lasting significance. What a waste!!!
But that waste is compounded by the fact that there is every likelihood the person concerned is not even aware of the power they have available to them. It’s like a beggar receiving a check for $1 million, but never bothering to cash it because he doesn’t have a bank account.
We each have an incredible amount of power available for us to use. Yet, whenever we feel inadequate we tend to look everywhere else for help. I guess that makes sense because feelings of inadequacy don’t really fit with having a sense of power. Yet, as illogical as it seems, Haanel rightly points out “all power is from within”. For those willing to take up the challenges in life and meet them head on, that’s good news.
For those who hesitate, maybe the news is not so good, because at the end of the day, or as they lay on their death bed reviewing their life, they really have no one else to blame other than themselves for whatever life was for them
