What is self-leadership, and why is it more critical for personal development than ever before? Maybe we should ask our phones. If we did, business and academically focused articles would highlight qualities such as self-awareness and self-management skills, which are essential for decision-making and achieving goals. I forgot my phone today, and we got along just fine without each other. It freed me to be even more present with my clients. There is empowerment through presence and a sense of wholeness and self-direction that comes from greater embodiment. We may not like to admit it, but technology brings us away from our senses.
I looked up self-leadership and found teaching models and charts with a multitude of words that began with self. Much of what I read related self-leadership to business success. This is not my angle. What helps us develop our self-leadership skills is not something found somewhere out there, imparted by an outside authority. We must find it within ourselves. When countless external influences vie for your attention and agreement, your commitment to being self-led must be a top priority.
The Compromise in Convenience
I’m brand new to ChatGPT. After my first day of using it, I experienced a mix of emotions. It reminded me of my first experience with the internet, when I exclaimed, “You mean I can look up anything?” At that time, I couldn’t predict how the internet would transform research, fact-finding, and networking, revolutionizing everyone’s lives. However, this recent, mind-blowing moment with Chat GPT quickly deflated.
After receiving a detailed summary of several pages I’d written, compiled in a matter of seconds, I went from Wow, that’s amazing and so helpful to Why even bother writing if it can create whatever you ask it to? It felt as if these mysterious supercomputing entities rendered my creativity obsolete. This fleeting existential crisis soon gave way to acceptance and a renewed sense of curiosity. For now, at least, my edge over AI is that I can draw on real-life experience.
My daughter is an artist and creates phenomenal characters, sketching and creating digital art. She’s told me never to use AI-generated art. She also doesn’t have the time or desire to create images for my blogs. So I tried it, and after using every free attempt at creating an image for this blog with ChatGPT, this is what I got.
With the words I provided, it generated two opposing paths. However, it seemed unable to convey the diversity I’d hoped for or blend the two images, failing to capture the energy of a person diverging from a mainstream path. The experiment revealed its limitations, yet it somehow made me feel better. AI presents an opportunity to remember that self-leadership requires our awareness. When we succumb to influence, we risk compromising our integrity. I changed my writing style after receiving prompts from writing software and later regretted it. The crumbs of convenience and influence you follow have the potential to disappear and leave you lost somewhere you don’t want to be.
Of course, this phenomenon applies to much more than AI.
Self-leadership Means Walking an Intentional Path
While creating a woodland trail, I wonder about the optimal placement of the rocks on the path. At that moment, I realized it doesn’t matter how convoluted I place the stones; if you’re walking along the path and you see its trajectory, you follow one after the other with little thought of a better route. It reminds me of how cars can drive themselves now with minimal direction from their operators. The prevailing message to drivers is to trust their cars’ cameras and dummy lights rather than relying on their own judgment.
When I purchased my SUV, I discovered that the four-wheel drive disengages when the vehicle exceeds 25 miles per hour. I’m sure the expert who decided that was a good idea never drove on Massachusetts Route 128 in a snowstorm. I’ll admit I’ve cursed the imaginary decision-making czar who created this ridiculous parameter more than once. It hasn’t changed my driving habits. I survived many years of driving during Massachusetts winters with only front-wheel drive.
Some of us recall a time when we also managed to survive without cell phones. The internet was more of a time saver than a time sucker. You could search for a topic and land there. The variety of information sources was once diverse and filtered less by a governing entity with a vested interest. Our way-finding around the internet, now guided by unseen forces, tells us what to choose. You may wish to explore alternatives to a health concern or gain a new perspective on an issue you care about. Just then, the four-wheel drive within your self-direction is shut down for your safety. The information you seek is buried or, worse, blocked.
Navigating the Digital Landscape: Challenges and Barriers to Effective Information Use on the Internet
Algorithms lure us in directions that are not of our own will. Pulled along by advertising, clickbait, and sensationalized news headlines, how often do you discover you’re somewhere you would never choose to be? One moment, you’re watching the funniest dogs who steal things or reading about how an upcoming eclipse is going to increase your abundance, and then suddenly, something hijacks your attention! Someone outside of you wants you to know there’s something wrong! There are things you need to purchase to get your life in order, lose weight, or fix your aging face.
While you may manage to evade buying products and services you didn’t know you needed, bad news networks loom patiently waiting to bombard you with urgent messages. Before you know it, the feel-good vibes you felt viewing a lab shepherd mix who hoards a neighbor’s shoes are a distant memory.
Back on my path, diverted by a large tree root, I’m forced to place stones to bypass it, which creates an unnecessarily sharp turn. I imagine myself coming across it, curious about its odd placement, but still having a go-around because steps are fun. With a smile and an audible giggle, I recall covering a strength and conditioning class years ago when I worked part-time at a gym. It was a side gig to my full-time job, and the only class I instructed was kickboxing. One day, I covered a class whose attendees primarily took aerobics classes. The gym owner said, “Include whatever you want, just keep people moving and having fun.”
At one point, I had the entire class accustomed to step aerobics, throwing uppercuts, side knees, and elbows. The move that I included as a joke was as dignified and skillful as a chicken dance, but sure enough, the 15 participants all followed. I stopped and laughed. Why aren’t you questioning what I’m having you do? You’re not at an elementary school dance class; you’re at a gym. Maybe this isn’t a fair example. I was, after all, leading the class. Do you think you’d follow along, or would you stop and say, “What the hell are you doing?”
Become Your Own Sovereign
It always baffled me how easily some people follow others’ lead. Perhaps some of us are just obstinate or paranoid. Following a presented narrative, path, or unusual dance move without question compels them to relinquish their sovereignty. Know where you are, so you may assess if it is where you want to be. Being externally led, sometimes by once-trusted affiliations, sweeps people into groupthink. Expanded thinking helps you reassess your agreements. Are they suitable for you? Agree when there’s authentic resonance, not because of an expectation to follow.
Self-leadership requires awareness of your mental, emotional, and physical state. I’m not suggesting hyper self-monitoring; quite the contrary. Cultivating gentle, grounded check-ins is enough. Pause and ask yourself, Is where I’m led, where I genuinely wish to go?
Your Higher Self holds all the information you need. Let it be your go-to tool, so your inner knowing is continually fed. Trusting in this connection quiets the conditioning of worry, angst, and the propensity to overthink to get things right. It calms the activation of your inner being in response to outside agendas that beckon you to hand over your creative energy. Be guided by it, and you will learn how to adjust your focus, knowing the importance of your choice.
Stop Following: Self-Leadership and the Courage to Walk Your Own Weird Path
Many people find it easier to follow and don’t question the guidance or direction of the person running the show. In the worst scenarios, it’s blind obedience. We all want a break from decision-making in certain areas of our lives, and yet we have a responsibility to ourselves and the greater good to be guided by that higher, authentic beacon.
People’s resistance to change often keeps them doing things exactly as initially instructed, without reassessment. Most often, it’s a situation like the ham in the pan. Do you know the story of Grandma’s Ham? Many variations of the tale illustrate the importance of asking why. The story of my grandmother is a fond memory of her sticking a cucumber slice to her forehead while she was cooking. We all had to have one, too! She convinced us, and she was very persuasive, that it keeps you cool 😉
Wholeness and Self Direction
Self-leadership is a wide concept that refers to how you lead your own life – setting your course, following it, and correcting as you go.
Susan Gagliano, Teacher Academy EU
I must say, I’ve lost some respect for those who are unaware of their compromise while following someone else’s lead. Politics provides many examples of what it is to lose sight of one’s integrity in the face of influence. Many write about self-leadership to explain how you can achieve personal goals and experience career advancement. The focus is on self-awareness and conscious decision-making to achieve specific ends. Be the bigger, better version of yourself. If you buy into it, if it suits you, and you prosper, then that’s your path. This kind of influence doesn’t honor the diversity of all paths. There is another way to be self-led, however.
Courageous self-leadership, in my world, is on different terms. It means thriving beyond conformity and leading your life authentically, even when it seems strange. It requires spiritual resilience, overcoming external pressures to participate in ways not aligned with your higher being. The focus is on growth and healing rather than achievement or material gain for its own sake. What if brave self-leadership benefits everyone, honors all beings, and aligns your creative energies with the world you most wish to see? It will be worth stretching past your existing conditioning.
🔥 Overcoming External Pressures
Envision who you are beyond superficial reflections, occupation, or wealth. Come to know yourself as immeasurably more. Your definitions of self will serve the greater truth of you when you transcend external pressures that attempt to define your path. Anchored in loving compassion, adapt and navigate as feels right for you. This way, you’ll more freely imprint your beautiful intent outward.
Practicing self-leadership reaffirms that there’s no one like you. Even on your worst day, this is still a good thing. What if you measured being the best, most authentic version of yourself not by how it looks to others but by how you feel? When you prioritize caring for your state of being above all else, you realize how your elevated, energetic presence is your greatest treasure and gift. Remember, Jesus arrived on a donkey. What you have and how you look matter less than what you are.
Take the reins and be led by that higher part of you that knows you, loves you, and will never steer you toward something not meant for you.
Please see my Coaching Services or Metaphysical Services (Spiritual Tools 101) pages to learn about services that will expand your thinking and support your discernment. Where in your life does your self-leadership excel, and when are you allowing the pull of influence to derail you? Take soul-aligned action, embody your wisdom, and lead your transformation.
