The most powerful force in the world

Recently Rich Litvin posed this question: What is the most powerful force in the world? People have so many different opinions about what the most powerful force in the world might be. What would your answer be?

Rich Litvin believes the most powerful force in the world is silence. He says you can transform people’s lives by holding silence and listening to people more deeply than anyone has ever listened to them. And although I do agree with him that silence and listening are powerful and can transform a relationship and even someone’s life, I don’t know if I believe these things to be the most powerful forces in the world.

Rich then goes on to share a few other perspectives on what the most powerful force in the world might be…

Yehuda Berg said, “Words are singularly the most powerful force available to humanity.” This aligns very much with what Devon Bandison means when he says, “I AM are the two most powerful words in the world”. Devon believes that “your words create your world”. And I also agree with that, as you would know if you have been reading my newsletter for a while. What we say has impact. What we say can create what we do and who we become. What we say can harm or heal.

Rufus Wainwright and Nelson Rockefeller both said, “Love is the most powerful force in the world.” This one is so timely, given that we are two days away from Valentine’s Day. And when I slow down, this one also rings true for me. Love is indeed a very powerful force. Love is not just a feeling. Love is action. Love is being. Love is who we are. And Love is a choice we can make in any moment. When I see things through the eyes of Love, I see differently. So, part of me would agree with this one, and yet, I still don’t know if I believe that Love is the most powerful force in the world. My sense is that it is perhaps the second most powerful force in the world…

Frida Kahlo wrote “Nothing is worth more than laughter. It is strength to laugh and to abandon oneself, to be light.” And I can even see Frida’s point. Laughter uplifts the soul. Laughter helps us take ourselves less seriously. Laughter can change the chemistry in our body. Laughter and silliness can bring a lightheartedness to a situation that might otherwise seem too dark or dire. Laughter is powerful. Laughter can unite and connect. Laughter can ease the pain of the soul.

Jonathan Haidt believed that “The most powerful force ever known on this planet is human cooperation – a force for construction and destruction.” And there is something to be said for human cooperation and collaboration. We are social creatures. We don’t create anything in isolation really. We rely on a deep system of trust, even if we are not seeing it. And as human beings, when we combine our creative talents, ideas, resources, and commitment, we create things that would not be possible by ourselves. Stephen Covey postulated that we are meant to evolve to a point of interdependence, and collaboration. And yet, I don’t see this as the most powerful force in the world either, because collaboration, in my view, depends very much on what I consider the most powerful force in the world…

Albert Einstein famously said, “Compound interest is the most powerful force in the universe.” And even here, there is some truth. Nothing beats time and patience. When we can patiently wait and consistently invest, we will be surprised at the wealth we can create. And yet, I still don’t think it’s the most powerful force in the world.

Some might believe that money is the most powerful force in the world, especially if they hold the perspective that money makes the world go round, or that money is power. We might spend all our days chasing money in the hopes that it will give us security, power, and love. But money is simply a tool and when it is not used for it’s intended purpose, it can create tremendous misery. Money is a tool to buy stuff and experiences. If stuff and experiences are what we are after, then money IS the best tool, and money can make a difference, but money is not the most powerful force in the world. In fact, I would argue that some of the other things I have listed here are exceedingly more powerful forces in the world than money. Money cannot buy love, laughter, presence, commitment, connection, or even joy.

Rosa Parks was clear on the power of determination, “I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear. Knowing what must be done does away with fear.” However, from where I’m sitting, there is something else that Rosa Parks might have been pointing to… Perhaps it wasn’t determination, but rather a determined mindset…

I believe that thoughts are the most powerful force in the world. Our thoughts can have us believe and create anything. When we believe our thoughts of unworthiness, and “not enoughness”, we live into those things. When we believe our thoughts that we are enough, or we can make a difference, or our voice does matter, that directs the actions we take in the world and what we create.

Everything – including choosing to be silent and hold space, choosing our words and beliefs and what we want to say, choosing to see through the eyes of love or the eyes of comparison, and even whether we choose to invest, and where we choose to spend our money – starts with a thought. Whether we feel motivated, inspired, determined, or defeated, lost, overwhelmed, and despondent, it started with a THOUGHT. There was a thought that passed through our minds, and we hooked onto it, and that then started a whole cascade of thoughts that led us to either take action or not.

Michael Neil says it best when he says, “We are living in the feelings of our thoughts. We are not living in the feelings of our circumstances.” Whatever feeling we are experiencing in any moment started with a thought, even if we are not aware of the thought. Our feelings are the shadows of our thoughts, and how we experience the world, has nothing to do with as-is reality, and everything to do with our own inner world of thoughts and feelings. We experience the world from the inside out. What does that mean?

Whatever I think about, is what I will create, because my thoughts spark certain feelings inside of me, and my feelings provoke me to act in a certain way or not. My actions create the results I am getting in my life. And whatever results I’m experiencing, are a direct result of the thoughts I have that form the beliefs I hold onto about myself, life, and others.

So, if you are not getting the results you want, you might want to consider what thoughts you get hooked on that has you create those results? What unconscious beliefs might you be holding onto that has you creating the results you are getting? And what is the mindset of those who create the results that you are longing for instead?

Our mindset, our thoughts, our beliefs, create our reality. Our minds are more powerful than we realise, and they might very well be the most powerful force in the world. What I believe, I will manifest in some way or another, or my mind will look for evidence of what I tell myself. My thoughts can shape how I feel about the events in my life, the people in my life, and even how I feel about myself.

I love how Michael Neil talks about this. Have you ever witnessed a breathtaking sunset? Or listened to a beautiful song or poem? Have you ever read an inspiring book? Or witnessed a disgusting act? Michael Neil says you most certainly have NOT.

What makes the sunset breathtaking, or the song or poem beautiful, or the book inspiring, or the actions you saw, disgusting, is YOUR THOUHTS about it. It is your thinking that makes it so. The sunset simply is. It’s your mind that tells you it’s breathtaking, or your mind that doesn’t notice it. The song simply IS. You choose to attribute to it the quality of beauty, or simply noise, or anything else of your thinking. What’s disgusting to one person, might not register in another’s mind. It’s all a matter of perspective. And our thoughts give meaning to as-is reality.

Your turn… What’s the most powerful force in the world? Let me know?