How to Increase Your Power and Influence

We all know people who have “it”.  That magical stuff that allows them to walk through life and get what they want easily and effortlessly.  Others enjoy being around impeccable people because they feel safe and know that if something is on that person’s mind they’ll let them know it.  Transparency and honesty are their strong points.

Everyone I’ve met wants to increase their power and influence.  They want this for very personal and selfish reasons – they want to get their way more often.  Nothing wrong with that – don’t we all?  Heck yea – we all like it when things are going our way.  And we like it even more when things go our way easily and effortlessly.

The single quickest way I know of to increase your power and influence is available to all – yet few use it.  This is because it requires a little discipline and giving up the victim mentality.  Many lack the intention to stay with this new habit long enough to make it stick.  They’d rather continue their life the way it is and blame the others who do have power and influence on their dumb luck or hair color.

The single best way I know of to develop “it” and become legendary is to start being impeccable.  This is when you care enough about yourself to honor your word even if you’re the only one listening.  You walk your talk because you love and respect yourself and don’t want to lie to yourself.  You keep your energy focused on what you want to create and not on several million other thoughts, diversions, and marketing chatter.

If you look at everyone with power and influence you’ll see the common denominator of focus.  They know what they want and have no doubt they’ll get it.

Remember being a kid in the candy store?  You walk in and soon your fingerprints and nose marks are on all the containers because you want them all.  At least one piece of candy from each jar.  The adult with you tells you NO, you have to choose one.  This is the power of focus – you begin prioritizing and focusing  on your favorite candy at that moment.  In today’s world with an incredible quantity of great choices it’s easy to get lost in the process of choosing.  Before you know it, nothing has been accomplished, you wasted an entire day, and have nothing to show for it.

To build your impeccability, begin to think before speaking and ask yourself if you really intend to do what you’re about to say?  If the answer is no, then don’t speak the words.  Think about the situation and decide what you are willing to do. Then speak this truth and act upon it.  The two go hand-in-hand – speak your truth and then act upon it.  Be consistent and congruent.

With a little discipline you can stop wasting your time and energy and dramatically increase your power and influence.  You’ll quickly revel in your new found power and abilities.  People innately recognize these traits and while they may not have them, they recognize and can feel their power.

It’s important to begin to consciously think before speaking.  Don’t be in a hurry to blurt out something only to find out it was incorrect or you can’t follow through on what you just said.  Be patient.  Think before speaking.  Check in with your heart and see how it feels.  Once you’re sure this is what you want to do then speak the words and do the associated action.

While this may sound slow and clunky, it will soon be automatic and you won’t notice any lag in your thoughts/speech.  There is incredible power in being impeccable.  It’s a rare commodity and one that is highly sought after.  We all feel safer and want to hang out with people live their lives this way.  They have true power and are comfortable in their own skin.

Impeccable people know their boundaries and are very comfortable speaking their truth and saying NO if it doesn’t feel good for them.  They don’t care what others say or think and aren’t at all into the people-pleasing game.  They have a lot of energy because they don’t squander it on idle chatter, wasting time, or not honoring their intentions.  We all have our boundaries but successful and influential folks know their boundaries intimately.  If something doesn’t feel good and it’s outside their boundaries they’ll politely decline and move on.  They know they don’t have to sacrifice who they are in order to momentarily please someone else.