Getting to Know the Game: the Power of Personal Authority
Written by: Taylor Hatfield Edited by: Cheyenne Garrett
Have you ever heard the saying that life is a game or that life is what you make it? This innocuous comment that seems like filler in a conversation actually holds so much truth. I have noticed in my life, and the lives of others, that we forget how much personal power we hold over ourselves. We have the power to shift mindsets and actions to create a game that we actually want to play. In this post I hope to showcase the importance of exercising your personal authority over your lives. We will discuss the power you have over your reality and how to utilize our TERR method to create a perception of reality that works for you. Finally, I hope to lay out an easy way for you to begin creating systems of habit that help you lay your game to its fullest.
To get started, let’s get a little accountable with each other. One of the keys to unlocking your full potential in any area is: self-awareness. This idea can be found in so many systems; emotional intelligence, self help systems, 12 step programs, religious doctrine and more. To be aware of oneself is to also hold oneself accountable. I personally call this principle the “white night” principle because to be aware of myself, to hold myself accountable, is to save myself instead of waiting for someone to do it for me. This is super important because another hard truth or law of existence is:
“NO ONE IS REQUIRED TO SAVE OR HELP YOU”.
It sucks, I know, but understanding this will help you play our game even better. This is not to say you will never receive help or guidance from others, but it hopefully stops you from waiting for it to happen. It tells you to pick up the dice and roll instead of waiting for magical numbers that will never come. You could even take this a step further:
“NO THING IS REQUIRED TO HELP YOURSELF”.
I myself have fallen prey to thinking “I’ll be able to make progress once I have [THIS]”. I like to call it the once this happens mentality. This mentality is simply not true, you are all you need to make progress and that starts by learning the rules to your own special game.
The rules of the game are your perception of reality. Now you may be saying to yourself “Taylor, reality is reality and there is nothing I can do to change it.” The truth is you are both right and wrong and that my friends is - reality. Now to understand what I mean by that we need to understand how our brains interact with our quote on quote “reality”. What you think of as reality is actually your brain’s interpretation of all of the input that you are receiving at any time. This is based on systems your brain has put into place both conscious and unconscious. These systems determine what your brain finds important, and it filters out your perception of the rest. Your brain cannot physically process everything going on at one given time and keep you in physiological homeostasis, a fancy term for keeping you alive and regulated. Now this fact is freeing because it means you have the freedom to design the systems in which your brain processes relate, changing reality itself. This is accomplished through intentional mindset shifts. Mindset shifts ask you to be mindful and in the present moment. It asks you to get accountable about what you want your game to look like.
Its Your Life.
Its Your Choice on Which Game You Want to Play
That brings us to the final chapter of our journey here today. A practical application to take back to your everyday life. It's time to begin designing your day and taking personal accountability over the life you want to live….because you deserve it. You deserve everything you have dreamed of and more. You deserve to feel good in your body, your mind, your spirit, and your community. You deserve to be happy in this moment and every moment after. So how do you decide what rules to put on your game? The answer is trial and error. Try something. Wanting to feel like you have more time in the day, try shifting your mindset around time. For example, you feel like you have “no free” time in the day. This mindset around reality feels constricting. Try instead to shift this reality. Say to yourself, for example, “Holy crap I have 30 min of free time a day to do anything I want to do”. The game has now changed and you feel lighter and more full of hope. With hope comes motivation, then fill that 30 min with whatever you want to do. Hold yourself accountable to maximize your shifted reality and your brain will start to look for more “free” time throughout the day.
Let's look at another example. “I don't have the money to take care of myself”…feeling defeated right? Well lets cha-cha slide to a new reality…”I have everything I need to start taking better care of myself”. There are free resources to learn better ways to support yourself, if food is an issue there are guides to buying healthier, friends and social media outlets for ideas and accountability to help with exercise, mental health and more. None of these require any more money than you are already spending to stay alive. These shifts bring about actions. Your rules dictate your movement which leads to motivation. If you are wanting to dig into this topic more I recommend two podcasts on creating systems and habits that I have linked at the bottom of this post.
You're being asked today to take personal accountability over your mindset or continue to play a game you don’t want to play. When you play a game you actually want to play you will find yourself taking actions. These actions will yield results which will motivate you to keep going, lending yourself to change. Now that you know the ball is in your court the only thing left to do is ask yourself: what game you want to play?
Looking for extra support in designing your next steps? Leave a comment below or book a coaching session with us today! Thank you to everyone who continues to support this blog. Please share it with a friend you think will enjoy this and future posts. Until the next time my darlings, go in love and start playing your own version of your game today.
