By Trish Rock / Guidely
What is personal empowerment? There is a lot of talk about being empowered, staying empowered, and living an empowered life. But, what does it actually mean?
The word ‘empowered’ means to give (someone) the authority or power to do something; to make (someone) stronger and more confident, especially in controlling their life and claiming their rights. Living an empowered life means you become stronger and more confident in your abilities and self. However, it requires discipline and the willingness to stay in awareness and self-belief.
What is Personal Empowerment?
There were many years of my life when I was not empowered; I was in a victim state. And, while it may have looked from the outside that I was a high achiever, ultimately, I had no control of my life and completely lacked self-empowerment.
These days I live and teach personal empowerment as it is part of my passion and purpose to inspire people to do and be the same.
Taking control of our own lives is the only way to REALLY be in control of what happens to us and how we react. Depending on others to determine how your life should look will keep you out of control and in a victim state where things are always ‘happening to you’, as it allows the ‘poor me’ attitude to take over.
Self-empowerment is a moment-by-moment, in the now, life awareness skill. Here are 3 ways I empower myself on a daily basis.
Ways to Empower Yourself
1. When things go wrong
There will ALWAYS be times in our lives when things do not go as planned. My old way of dealing with this was to bury my head in the sand and hope it would all just go away. But now, my EMPOWERED approach is to really contemplate what has happened and find the blessing/lesson in it. Writing in my journal helps, but it is mostly a mindset where I allow myself to quickly let go and replan, then redo, or review what I need to do to move forward.
A change in perspective can be very enlightening and lead to personal empowerment!
2. When emotions and sensitivity take over
I am a very emotional and sensitive person. I used to see it as a bad thing, but now, I see these qualities, yes qualities, as a strength that empowers me to tune into my spirituality and intuition. If I am having a sensitive or emotional day, I do not allow it to ruin or take over the way I once did. Instead, I feel into it and ask what the reason is. Is it planetary? Is it an old fear? Is it an old belief creating an emotion? Or maybe it is all of the above.
I will often meditate to find the answers and then take the important step of creating action. As soon as you get going with action on something, you empower yourself and immediately feel better and stronger. This ultimately puts you in a state of awareness to shift your perceptions of what emotions or old beliefs came up and need to be let go of.
3. When feeling criticized or judged
There are days when I receive judgment or criticism from others and there are days when I give it to myself. On these days and in these times, the way I stay fully empowered is to ask myself if it is true. This snaps me out of any downward spiral.
Is this true? Is it really true? What fears and beliefs is that person projecting onto me? What fears and beliefs am I creating within myself?
This is one of the most challenging areas to find self-empowerment in, but when you can and continue to practice it, you can stand up against any judgments from yourself or others with full self-power, devoid of any ego or control.
Steps to Personal Empowerment
There are so many aspects to self-empowerment that I help people with daily. It is such a joy to see people rise in their own belief and empowered state from relationships, health, career, spirituality, or talents. I hope this helps you answer “what is personal empowerment” and allowing yourself to gain control in your everyday, moment by moment.
