When did you last move mountains?

In other words, when is the last time that you felt powerful?

Really powerful? Like you could do absolutely anything. Move mountains. Swim oceans. Touch the stars. That you are in control and in charge of your life. Just think what you would achieve, who you would be, where you would go if you felt powerful. How would life be different?

Following on from yesterday’s post about the day I took ownership for wanting ‘powerfulness’ for all the women and children in the world, I thought I’d share with you what ‘powerfulness’ means to the mums in my communities. I’d love to hear which of these definitions resonates for you.

• “Being confident in your own skin”
• “When I was younger, if meant something to be feared. Now it’s something to be grasped.”
• “Feeling the fear and doing it anyway. But going beyond that and realising that WHEN you do something, despite being fearful, your potential is limitless and therefore you are all powerful. And also, the knowledge that you can choose how to react to any situation – that is total powerfulness. “
• “Having choices is powerful. And truly understanding them is also powerful. But then, one can be overwhelmed by that.”
• “Just realised we do grow up from a young age fearing ‘power’. Fairy tale enemies have it in spades.”
• “For me it is all about internal power. Belief in yourself, an inner confidence. An awareness of, and developing of your internal power, and control. Understanding no matter what is going on in your life that is out of your control, how we feel, react and behave is within our control. And agree with Laura about feeling the fear and doing it anyway.”
• “I use powerful in my work, power is an energy to be cultivated, it is what gives life and momentum into ventures and is a unique ‘signature’ we can bring into work. Empowering others is about enabling people to feel wholly and fully congruent, to have ownership and agency of choice in all aspects of our lives.”
• “Powerfulness is such an iconic word and one we should be proud to authentically add to our competencies when we know it’s there with us.”

• “To me it also means confidence, stability and leadership. All traits of a great mother, perhaps?”
• “You can feel powerful in any given situation or stage of life, you only have to give yourself permission to feel so.”
• “The ability to tackle the problems you are facing at the time, a kind of inner strength and calmness.”
• “The capacity we have to be powerful. Our essence of being unstoppable.”
• “Powerfulness for me is inner confidence and being happy with who you are. That belief in yourself and self love, gives you the ‘power’ to achieve anything you want.”
• “A feeling of being in effortless natural control so you feel confident and have self belief.”
• “Nothing is going to stand in your way, inner confidence, when your inner view matches your outer view.”
• “It comes from within rather than having it bestowed upon you.”
• “Our capacity, and the scope we have, to be powerful. Our capacity to create personal impact – in our own lives and the lives of others. I also notice that I think I hear powerLESSness used far more often than powerfulness!”
• “Means inner strength, a confidence and attitude of uncompromising inner force.”
• “Accepting who we really are.”

As I said yesterday, the dictionary definition of ‘powerfulness’ is “possession of controlling influence”. To me, the very use of the term ‘influence’ suggests something more gentle than my earlier fear of powerful being seen as aggressive, strident, dictator-like.

Margaret Atwood suggested that a powerful woman is seen as an anomaly. And yet the mums I talk to seem to agree that powerfulness is about how you feel INSIDE. It’s having that inner confidence and strength to tackle situations. To have an impact on your life and on the lives of others. It’s the freedom to make choices and decisions.

As for me, I am buzzing because I just love what you have shared with me. I am feeling powerful because I do have that inner strength and confidence which does allow me to nurture and inspire … to influence women about how they feel and how they believe in themselves.

I know now that I’m on the right tracks for The Art of Confidence (though maybe it’s really The Art of Powerfulness …). I’m planning to work with a very small group of women to help them feel truly powerful in all aspects of their life. It’s not about being demanding or bossy or aggressive. It’s about how to live your life powerfully and completely as a woman and a mother.

I’d love to hear your thoughts. Do share in the comments below, what would you do if you lived your life powerfully?

p.s. before you go, if you want to start to unleash your inner confidence, join me Wednesday 27th at 8pm for a free online class. Click HERE to find out more.