The
biggest challenge about being young is finding your own voice. Unfortunately we
spend the better part of our lives trying to conform to socially acceptable
norms and trying to fit in. Be it in school, college, work or even home, we
struggle all our lives to fit in. There is no room for individual opinion
anymore and the collective seems to have taken over our lives. What we have
always been tutored to do all our lives is to “play the game right” with not
much emphasis on what path to follow in order to accomplish this. This is the
root cause of what stops us from becoming thinking individuals and this is what
we need to stop doing.
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by” - Robert frost
At
some point we have all dreamed of attaining glory and fame or whatever other
form of achievement it is that is important to us. Not having the courage to
walk your chosen path is the only thing that has stopped us from attaining that
glory. The ones who have attained that pinnacle of personal achievement are the
ones that have chosen to be fearless and carve their own paths. We look upon them as leaders and think those
are the ones to follow. Truth is that there is a leader within all of us. Each
one of us is a leader and the only real difference between those that become it
and those that don’t is fear. Be fearless enough to walk alone and you shall
never live in shadow again.
I
don’t believe that suffering is the only way to attain strength or glory, but I
do believe that the best way out is through, which can entail hardships that
need to be endured and not avoided in order to overcome our inherent fears. Think
about a time when you wanted to do something but didn’t because you were
afraid. I once got on stage to sing a song that I had rehearsed many times. I
was petrified as I had always feared the stage and was sure that I would do
something to mess things up. That is exactly what I did. I sang the wrong song.
But when I did sing the wrong song I realized that I was still singing well, even
after having blundered so, and the minute that realization set in I was unafraid
anymore.
Taking
responsibility for ones own actions is the first step towards becoming a
leader. Right or wrong, take your own decisions and along with that the
responsibility for the consequences. You know the best part about doing this is
that you start to listen to your inner voice for guidance. Most people call it
instinct and that is something that we learn how to suppress with time. The
second you start to take your own actions and decisions that voice wakes
up and becomes stronger. And trust me, it is the biggest guiding force in our
lives. Always, always listen to your instinct and follow it.
Being
honest isn’t all about not speaking lies, it’s also a lot about being truthful
to yourself. The only person that you need to face at the end of the day is
yourself and if you can look yourself in the mirror then you’re on your way to
finding that leader inside. What this reminds me of is a chance meeting with a
tarot card reader once who looked me straight in the eye and said that my
biggest weakness was that I was too honest and that I walked the straight path.
I was unable to decide what shocked me more, the sincerity with which she said
this or that what was once considered a virtue was now looked upon as a vice. I
decided that she was an integral part of the herd that I didn’t want to follow.
Finally,
one of the biggest driving forces in the world is the power of positivity. To
bring any sort of change in your life or to the person that you are one needs
to be the change, one needs to believe in their dreams and aspirations and
change their beliefs, if need be, in order to reach their goals. The leader
within you will only come forth if your beliefs are driven with positivity. Think
about it, is it possible to start that venture you’ve always wanted to if you
are saddled with negative thoughts beforehand? Your thoughts are who you are
and the only people that others will look up to are the ones that can infect
them with positivity and enthusiasm. Positivity is that magnetic force that we
always tend to attribute to people we admire and mostly it translates into
their charisma.
Our
beliefs can be constructive or destructive and in order to find your own voice
one needs to tune to a positive frequency. You know we’ve always been taught to
do things that conform and when someone decides to take an off beat path our
first reaction is to judge and say he’s being foolish and that is not the right
way to be. Change that reaction. Respect that person for having the courage to
follow their instinct.
You
know leadership isn’t all that it is perceived to be. It isn’t all about
leading a pack but more about having the ability and strength to be an individual.
To have individuality and a thought process, that is not dictated by others,
and the courage and conviction to stand by your choices. Let the leader in you
emerge and walk that path of truth, honesty and fearlessness. Never shall you be
lost or walk in the dark again.
About
the author: Neha Parmar is a wildlife photographer and a conservationist
with some tolerable talent for writing. If you liked, connected or have a
contrary perspective with anything that you read please feel to share your
feedback.
To see more work by Neha Parmar https://www.facebook.com/NehaParmarPhotography.
Disclaimer:
This article remains copyright of the author and is her individual perspective.
If you wish to give any feedback please get in touch with the author.