Self-determination means that you’re completely free to decide what you want. You don’t need anyone’s permission or approval. Your choices are yours to make and can never be dictated by others. You need never justify what you want. You want what you want, and that is enough.
In order to wield power effectively, you must accept full responsibility for your life and be willing to make decisions under all circumstances. This includes ambiguous, challenging, and risky situations. There’s no rule that says you have to be right. The only rule is that no matter what happens, you’re responsible. Since you can’t escape full responsibility, you might as well consciously participate in the decision-making process, so you can have at least some say in determining the outcome.
When you face important crossroads in life, exercise your power to decide consciously. Offer up a definitive yes or no. Don’t succumb to the blind default of silent approval. To align yourself with power, you must make real choices.
Life is constantly asking: What do you want? You have the freedom to answer that question however you wish. Aligning yourself with truth and love will help you evaluate the possibilities, but there are no compulsory right or wrong answers. There’s only your freedom to choose. Will you answer with silence, or will you exercise your power of conscious choice?
You must break through the haze of social conditioning that says your life must obey a set of rules dictated by others. You’re under no such obligation. Your only real constraints are your decisions and their consequences. You’re a free and independent being. How you decide to use that freedom is up to you.
* Source: Personal Development for Smart People by Steve Pavlina