Power, Influence, and Fear

One of the deepest fears we carry is the fear of being powerless. When danger looms — political upheaval, authoritarian drift, even personal crisis — our minds scramble for safety. But safety often feels out of reach. We can’t control events. We can’t stop the tide. And so the fear grows.

But here is the shift:

We usually have far less power than we want, but we may continuously increase our influence.

Power is about control. It’s external, conditional, and fragile. A title, an office, a badge, even money — they can all be stripped away or neutralized. In times of instability, power evaporates fastest.

Influence is different. Influence comes from trust — the trust we build inside ourselves, and the trust others learn to place in us through our words, our choices, and our presence. Influence doesn’t require permission. It grows each time we act with responsibility and respect, each time we choose honesty over fear.

This is where Better Than Safe offers a path forward. We can’t guarantee safety. We can’t guarantee power. But we can build trust. Trust with ourselves, so we can live without guilt. Trust with others, so we can create ripples of clarity and courage. And from trust, influence grows — quietly at first, then steadily, until it shapes conversations, communities, and cultures.

The fear that comes from lack of safety is real. But the antidote is not chasing more power. It’s cultivating more influence — one honest act at a time.

What’s better than safe? Trust.

And trust is the root of influence.

This may not change the world today. Maybe no one will notice at all. But influence rarely arrives with fanfare. It grows the way trust grows — quietly, steadily, in ways we can’t always measure or see. And that is enough.