Galilea Suarez, Week 10: I Was Wrong
What if we took responsibility for every aspect of our lives? Would that make us powerful since we now control every factor? Or would it make us powerless since we are now subject to the tribulations life throws at us?
In the book Feel Good Productivity by Ali Abdaal, he says that “power isn't something that we exert on others; it’ something we feel," disproving my last blog which defined power as the ability to influence others. He uses the idea of power to enhance ones productivity, though this made me think about how power can be intrinsic.
Abdaal mentions how this type of power is “something you create for yourself” rather than being dependent on others to give one power, if power is a feeling, then one can always feel powerful; hypothetically.
Let’s create a situation that proves how one can exert power even without the ability to impact others. A fourty-six year-old man, let’s call him Tom, works at your average desk job. Tom hates his life-style, he hates his monotonous work, he hates his stuck-up boss, and the only aspect of his life he actually enjoys is when the clock hits 4:30pm which allows him to drive through an hour long traffic in order to get home.
If power was only the ability to guide others, Tom would be the definition of powerless, but if Tom recognizes the fact that he is in fact responsible for his quality life then perhaps he improve it. For instance, he could try to build a relationship with his coworkers, or he could listen to a podcast during his drive home, or in an extreme example, quit his job. He has the ability to influence his own life.
I still believe that power is a synonym for influence, however I love abdaal’s perspective since it gives people control over their life. It gives one no excuses on putting blame on external factors for the state of their life. This also means that no one is ever powerless.
Hey Galilea, I really liked your article explaining how power can come from within rather than from other people. One thing I liked about your blog is the usage of rhetorical questions in the first paragraph. It engaged me with your blog and made me want to read more of it. I feel like I would have to agree with Abdaal's take on power. Every human has power in their life; whether the power is big or small, we still have some sort of power. And that power is the power we have over our own life. No one should be able to have the power to influence other peoples lives. Someone's own life should be controlled by only themselves. But this is easier said than done. Someone with a lot of power can easily control those with little, like a CEO to an average salary man. This is what makes power such an intricate subject, there are many different ways to interpret power, and they all connect. Overall, I liked your blog about how power can be interpreted as something that comes from within, and not something that comes from outside sources.
ReplyDeleteYes, Galilea! Absolutely, I agree! I feel like this is a much more optimistic way of viewing ourselves and the concept of power. I also think that we give power to the things in our lives by letting them dictate how we feel and think rather than manage our own emotions and reactions to the world around us. In a sense, by accepting this more optimistic way of thinking about power, you are reclaiming that power that you have over yourself and making it easier to make changes in your life that will make you happy. Personal power is a really strong thing and the one thing that we can control to its fullest is our emotions and reactions. If we take life with a grain of salt and focus on intrinsic motivations then we are setting a standard of control over our lives. Also, I enjoyed the style that you took with your blog this week. It started off with establishing the idea and despite agreeing with you, I was a bit worried to see how you would explain it clearly. But the analogy was the perfect approach. It set out a familiar scene that allowed you to relate to the character, Tom, and understand how he might feel powerless. Then you matched that with the more optimistic viewpoint, showing ways that he could make his life more enjoyable. It was clear, explanatory, and fun! I will be looking forward to next week’s blog.
ReplyDeleteHi Galilea! I love your blog! Though I will disagree on the "I was wrong" part. I still think that your previous blog still holds up with the concepts of power. Power as a whole is many things and influencing other is a huge control that anyone could have. I like how you analyzed the article in order to further develop the author's ideas. I do agree that we can "create something for ourselves." We are developing people as time goes on and we learn from our past (like our choices, mistakes, etc). I do think that we do have that power to be able to learn and to control our lives. From reading both of your blogs, I feel that I can connect both ideas into different concepts of power. We have the power to influence others which can be through their actions, language, expression, and etc. Yet we ourselves also have the power to control how we think, act, or even talk. Thank you for sharing your blog!
ReplyDeleteI like the connection you make to your previous blog and how you disagree with the claim you made before. However, I don't agree with your disapproval, as I think that power is both something people feel and something we exert on others. It just comes down to the context in which the word is being used. For example, using the word 'power' in a political context talks about the sway a certain politician has. If the word is used in a social context, it could be talking about how someone is feeling. Regardless of this, your blog is very captivating. The example of the working man hating his job creates an alluring story, along with the image that pairs well with it. The book was an interesting introduction, and I look forward to reading it in the future. Reading your blog made me realize that I have the power to control everything, how I think, act, talk, etc. In general, I have seen great improvement in each of your blogs and I hope to see more.
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