Every single day you make countless decisions about how to experience life. The importance of your sovereignty and free will in that process cannot be overstated – it is critical.
Decisions range from seemingly trivial aspects of life such as when to wake up or what to have for breakfast to crucial life altering decisions such as how to spend your time and who you spend it with.
The problem – in modern life, we are often compelled into making choices we wouldn’t choose for ourselves. How many of any number of choices you can think of, truly feel like they are your choices?
The Sovereignty and Free Will Problem in Life
The world of science and even organised religion to a great extent has forced the wrong think of determinism into our lives. All this does is erode your ability to navigate your life in the way you see fit.
Most people live their lives according to prescribed scripts set by other people, organisations and governments.
Let’s look at some examples of this:
- Work schedules set by employers
- Social expectations from friends and family
- Cultural programming about how life should be lived
- Financial obligations that dictate your daily routines
- Media influences shaping your thoughts, ideology and desires.
All of the above is antithetical to natural flow. It is all imposed artificial resistance. Some of these resistance structures are difficult to change quickly, but the point of The Navigation Codex is to reduce resistances or remove them over time and restore your sovereignty and ultimately, fulfilment in your life, over time.
What Sovereignty and Free Will Actually Means
A common criticism others like to levy at people who exercise sovereignty and free will is that they are ‘selfish’ or ‘ignoring others.’ This is nothing more than immoral and bullshit resistance that other people use to coerce you into behaving how they want you to behave.
Sovereignty is recognising you are the ultimate authority over your life experience.
True Sovereignty Looks Like
- Making decisions based on your own inner guidance rather than external pressure.
- Taking responsibility for your decisions and their outcomes.
- Refusing to acquiesce to fear, guilt, or shame in your decision making process.
- Honouring yourself as a human and your own authentic desire rather than artificial ‘you should do this’ mentality.
- Setting boundaries that protect your integrity, energy and wellbeing.
Free Will Means
- You always have the power to decide, even when choices are limited.
- Your response to any given situation is entirely up to you.
- No one has the right to force you to think, feel, or believe anything.
- You can change your life, direction of your life and how you experience life at any time.
Why Society Creates Resistance to Your Sovereignty and Free Will
There’s a reason why by and large, people struggle to exercise sovereignty in society. The people in power know full well that people they keep dependent on them are easier to manipulate, control and exploit.
Let’s put that into real world perspective:
- People who are insecure about their appearance are more likely to buy products and services in an attempt to feel better.
- Anxious people typically consume more media, news and entertainment.
- Employed people who are financially dependent on their job, are more likely to accept poor working conditions.
- People confused about their identity are more likely to follow ‘authority’ figures and trends to gain a sense of identity.
- Lonely people will conform to other people’s desires in order to not feel lonely.
Every system benefits when you doubt your own judgement and relinquish your sovereignty.
So now, looking at those examples I provided, tell me if you can answer logically where the selfishness is in exercising sovereignty? Could it be as I stated before the people quick to band the term selfish around are looking to coerce you back into a position of weakness?
Practical Sovereignty and Free Will in Daily Life
Rebuilding your sovereignty and exercising your free will may well be a slow process, it could also be fast – it depends entirely on how much sovereignty and free will you have sacrificed thus far.
But irrespective of where you are, there are little steps you can take to start rebuilding and reinforcing your sovereignty.
Morning Sovereignty Question
Start each day by asking yourself the question:
“What does my authentic self want to create today?”
Do this before you check your phone, open the morning paper, or dive into any of your upcoming decisions. Give yourself a few short minutes to reflect on that question and connect to the natural desires you have for yourself for the day ahead.
Decision Sovereignty
Some decisions are made absentmindedly, but as you develop your navigation skills you will be able to regain control of even subtle decisions. To begin, you may find yourself only able to identify larger decisions in your life.
When making decisions, assess the choice using the following two questions:
“Am I choosing this from excitement or fear?”
“Does this choice align with my values or someone else’s expectations?”
For choices you can see having a medium to long term impact, ask yourself an additional question to the two above.
“Will I feel proud of this choice in 5 years?”
The answers you want to proceed in sovereignty are the choice excites you and is not made out of fear. It aligns with your authentic self and not other’s expectations. And it is a choice you will be proud of, irrespective of the outcome, because you are able to choose freely, and accept responsibility for your decision.
Boundary Sovereignty
I have noticed in the past, I have been guilty of saying yes to other people when the request did not align with who I am or my priorities. It is extremely common for people to say yes when they instinctively know they should be saying no.
When you start practicing saying no, you may encounter external resistance, where others are trying to re-establish control.
But also, when saying no to requests that don’t align with you, you will feel better internally, and like a fishing net being drawn in, you will feel your sense of stability, self-worth and empowerment are brought back to you personally.
Common Sovereignty Killers
The following statements are all completely false, yet we have been conditioned to believe they are valid.
What will people think?
Sacrifices your sovereignty for other people’s opinions. And when have you ever been able to control what someone else thinks about you? A complete nonsense objection we have tricked ourselves into believing.
I don’t have a choice
You always have a choice. Some choices may not be easy or comfortable, especially if you have to prioritise your own wellbeing over someone else’s. That doesn’t mean the choices don’t exist – they always do.
I should be grateful for what I have
This objection is often used as defeatism, as if saying any desire you have for personal growth is contradictory to gratitude for what you have. The truth is gratitude for your current situation and desire for growth aren’t mutually exclusive, you can practice both and still follow your authentic journey through life.
It’s selfish to put myself first
Taking care of your own wellbeing is not selfish, it’s necessary. If you authentically want to help others, you must first put yourself first. You cannot give from an empty cup or guide others when you have no sense of self identity.
The Ripple Effect of Sovereignty and Free Will
When you start exercising your natural right to sovereignty and free will, you will notice some truly remarkable positive outcomes.
Your value to others increases because you are acting from self-authority and not neediness or obligation. Others around you will see the beneficial changes and will start to realise their own resistance patterns around sovereignty.
Your personal navigation journey inevitably leads to better outcomes because acting from sovereignty means decisions made with natural flow rather than resistance.
Opportunities will present themselves because you are aligned to what you truly desire.
Lastly, because you are beginning to live life on your terms, according to your beliefs, it builds genuine self-confidence. You are no longer borrowing how to live from others.
Starting a Sovereignty Practice
If you feel inclined to try out establishing your sovereignty and free will then you can take the following small steps over the next week.
- Start to notice how many of your daily decisions are automatic conditioned responses rather than authentic conscious decisions.
- Before agreeing to requests, pause and take a moment to check in with yourself.
- Experiment with saying no to small things that don’t align with your priorities.
- Follow one authentic desire you have been putting off for whatever reason, it doesn’t have to be major, just a small step in that direction.
Remember It is Your Life – No One Can Live it for You
True sovereignty is about taking full ownership of your experiences and authentic choices.
Honouring free will and sovereignty is both a deeply personal aspect of life and something you should always extend to others. Remember, they have their own lives that no one can live for them.
Finally, trust yourself, you know far more about what you want than you think you do. Acting with sovereignty and free will allows you to live a life that feels like it is your life.
And of course, if this article doesn’t appeal to you then I absolutely welcome you exercising the free will to dismiss it! If it does resonate and you want to know more about The Navigation Codex, click around, subscribe to our newsletter and bookmark the page for future updates.