POWER.

Ask 10 people what this word means. You'll hear about  government. Some will mention police. Some allude to TV stars or social media celebrities.
Go deeper, and you'll hear about money, status, fame, titles, and privilege.
There are several topics the Presidential Election of 2016 centered on. No matter whom you favored - or if you favored anyone at all, one topic heavily weighted in your (non-)decision: the power of the powerful and how their use of such power affects everyone else.
But here's the thing: Power doesn't begin or end with anyone who's on TV. It starts - and ends - with you.

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So, what is Power? Power is The ability to do something or act in a particular way, especially as a faculty or quality.

The operative word here is ability: possession of the means or skill.

We all have the means to do things as we want. The problem is, the challenges of life deafen us to the voice of such powers. Faced with fear, stress and anxiety, we forget what we're capable of.

Repeated: when you're fearful, stressed out or anxious, you do not have access to your full allotment of power. [shareable cite="@DreAllDay "]When you're fearful, stressed out or anxious, you do not have access to your full allotment of power.[/shareable]

Then, through this self-imposed non-use, we lose our ability to act or be as we wish.
And before you can say “what happened?”, you find yourself powerless. Unable to think, act or be as you wish. Then it's the government, media, the rich and everyone else determining your outcomes. Everyone except you.
Or so you think.
You need not be elected, accumulate followers, double your income, or wear a badge to have power. What you do need to do is change the way you're thinking.

Here are 4 ways to begin.
If the answer isn't “HELL YES!!” Then the answer is “NO.” How much time do you waste doing things you don't want to do, talking to people you don't even like, going to places you don't want to be - all because you don't know how to say NO?

Use this principle from now on: unless you're HELL YEAH excited about something in which you have a choice, say no. Turn it down. Walk away. Send the caller to voicemail. You may not have this power of choice in all areas of your life - none of us do - but I GUARANTEE you have more choice right now than you think you have.
Cut your decision time in half. Since I've already chopped into 80% of your choice overload with #1, this will be easy. Stop taking so much time to figure and measure, to hem and haw, when you already know the answer. You took all that time and came right back to what your instincts told you in the first place.
Listen to your hunches and instincts. Your instincts and hunches are always telling you something useful. Many of us have spent so much of our lives second guessing ourselves that we've lost the self-trust required for personal power.

I should also mention that you don't have to always follow your instincts. When someone steps on your new shoes, for example, your instincts may tell you to start a fight. This probably isn't the best idea. But the fact that your instinct said this leads right into my 4th tip.
Know yourself. What are your strengths and how much are you utilizing them? What are your weaknesses, and why are you NOT using your strengths more in their place? Working on weaknesses will make you adequate. Leveraging your strengths will make you rich.

Yes - work on weaknesses and get better at your game. But no one cares about your average level of ability in something in which you used to be terrible. Yes, you've improved - to become average!Also remember no human is perfect. There are certain things you just won't be good at, no matter how hard you work on your game. You can fight this fact and waste your life trying against it, or you can do what wise people do: focus on what you do best and let someone else do well what you do only at an average level at best. A weakness is a weakness for a reason. Weaknesses, however, should not be confused with areas needing improvement.

For example, when I was 15 I couldn't dunk a basketball. That wasn't a weakness, it was an area I could get better at! By 16 I could dunk. Conversely, at age 15 and still now at 34, I don't care much about pleasing people - this is a weakness in many ways (and also a strength), so I find pleasing, agreeable people to have around me. Maybe some of their stuff will rub off on me.

Power is not some abstract concept or hidden gem reserved for only a special few. Power is also not handed out like holiday turkeys or Instagram likes. Power is TAKEN, by men and women who have decided to take it for themselves. And as power is a way of being, it starts not with where you live or how much you make, but with how you think.

Who has your power?"@DreAllDay "]Who has your power?