I’ve been pondering the topic of leadership recently.
At what point do we become leaders? Are we still leaders if we are only leading ourselves?
It's easy to believe that natural-born leaders of the world who thrive under pressure and are extremely charismatic and persuasive are the people with the most influence in the world. It seems like these are the type of people with the most potential to have a large scale impact.
But what about those who have no interest in taking on large scale power and responsibility for others? Can we still be leaders? Is it enough to just be responsible for just ourselves?
According to John Quincy Adams and many others “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, and become more then you are a leader”. So all we have to do to become a leader is to be able to inspire and influence others.
I’ve learned that the easiest way to inspire each other is by going after our passions and following what feels good (even if they only about self-improvement) to us. When we do this we become happier, healthier and more satisfied. This allows us to feel more positive, light and grateful.
Research by Dr.Joe Dispenza shows that when we feel these elevated states of emotions we are also at our most creative and energetic. When we find our purpose and work towards it, we walk around with a high positive energy that automatically diffuses negative interactions and amplifies the positive ones, giving us the power of positively influencing our surroundings.
When we are satisfied with life, we don’t have to try to influence others, we do it by default.
Leadership and large-scale impact, therefore, don’t-have to be about taking on the responsibilities of others, but it's about taking on the responsibility of ourselves and our energy and happiness. The better we become at mastering our energy the more power and influence we can have with others and the world around us.
Leadership doesn't have to be about directly influencing others though. It can simply be about being a leader to our selves.
When we take responsibility for our happiness we become self-sufficient. When we control our energy, we don't have to rely on others and our current leaders for opportunities. We make them ourselves. This gives us individual power and freedom while taking some of the pressure off our leaders and lightening the load for others.
During my years in the classical education system, I was taught to believe that the more we sacrifice our energy to help others and the more people we can reach and influence, the more positive impact we will have on the world. We are taught to revere people in high places. Some dedicate their lives to making the world a better place.
This made me feel unworthy because I had no interest in “saving the world”.
I just wanted to be a ski bum and be happy in my day today. But now after leaving the traditional viewpoints behind and doing my research, I see that taking responsibility for my happiness is the most direct route to having a positive influence on the world.
So what have you done lately to take responsibility for your happiness?
Written By Maji the Powder Priestess - PoP’s Passion Contributor