Do you really want to solve them? Are you in debt? Out of work? Hate school? Having problems in your relationships? Legal issues? Are you out of shape? Unhealthy? Do you worry too much? Are you afraid? Do you lack energy? Are you tired all the time? Is your business failing? Maybe your candidate didn’t win the nomination.

We all have problems and there is an answer to most of them.

I am a student of the Master Key System by Charles F. Haanel , the last book Bill Gates read before he dropped out of Harvard, and as I was skimming the forward the other day, this jumped out at me…

The student who learns that all power comes from within, that he is weak only because he has depended on help from the outside, and who unhesitatingly throws himself on his own thought, instantly rights himself, stands erect, assumes a dominant attitude, and works miracles.

This is another way of saying, “Wake up! Take responsibility for your life, your thoughts, your feelings, and your actions. Quit blaming. Quit letting other people do your thinking for you. Quit waiting for someone else to fix you. The only thing you control is you!”

The other day, I caught myself thinking, if only the kids were a little older then I could do X. I’ve been making these excuses my entire life! If it wasn’t the kids, it would be something else. It has nothing to do with the kids and everything to do with me.

We give other people too much power over our lives. Too often we use other people as the reason we can’t take care of ourselves. Other times we wait for them to fill our needs and expect them to solve our problems, while most of them aren’t even aware of our dependence because we don’t have the courage tell them, so instead of taking charge of our lives, we procrastinate and complain.

Don’t misunderstand, I don’t mean that you don’t need relationships or other people in your life, you do. What I mean is that you shouldn’t depend on them to feel your personal power. You are powerful no matter what others choose to do, be, or think.

We also rely on material things like clothes, cars, titles, or (put anything but yourself here) to feel powerful. Some of us bury ourselves in debt to obtain these symbols of power, but material things don’t grant you power, they are merely reflections of the creative power you’ve already harnessed. They are an effect not a cause. If we need things to feel powerful we will always feel weak and needy.

All your power comes from within you, it isn’t granted to you by someone else, it is you. You are pure power. You just need to accept it, expand it, and wield it with compassion and love. Personal power is a decision, not a welfare check. It doesn’t show up on the 1st and 15th from George Bush. It is available to you whenever you choose to realize it is already there.

If you are still scratching your head…

Ask yourself… Where did everything ever created by a human being come from? Every invention, every mystery solved, every building, every fashion design, every book, every language, every work of art, every song, every luxury, and every so-called necessity? Every human creation began as a thought.

If you searched deep enough inside yourself you may even find the solution to death and taxes.

You are powerful beyond your wildest dreams. Live.