The most common question my clients ask me is “how can I feel – and become – more empowered?”
I didn’t realise it was such a common query among women until the question kept popping up. Looking up the meaning of empowerment, it’s all centered around having the authority or power to do something. It’s the process of becoming stronger and more confident to navigate life.
What does empowerment mean for me?
For me becoming empowered was something I had to learn, and be uncomfortable with learning. When I started to feel more empowered, I found that I could make decisions more easily, focus on my personal values, centre my well-being and feel generally happier in life. All in all, when I feel happiest when I make the time to do things for myself and ensure that my happiness comes first.
What can empowerment mean for others?
Whilst this is just my take on feeling empowered, it can mean different things to different people. So I asked my private Self-Love group the same question, and the results were as interesting as they were inspiring. Some examples (and personal favourites) that I wanted to share with you:
- “When I am confident in myself and stand up for myself.”
- “When I have finished a workout and give gratitude towards my body.”
- “When I motivate or help someone do something when they believed they couldn’t.”
All of these are great examples of empowerment. I assume that most of these wonderful women must have done some unlearning and relearning when it came to this type of growth. That is, they took the time and made space for themselves and their needs.
How can you feel empowered this year?
If feeling empowered and growing is something that is on your 2024 bingo card, I want to share 5 changes I personally made in pursuit of this, too. Please stick with me because they are achievable and easier than you’d think.
It’s also worth mentioning that while mindset and wellness can look really fluffy from the outside, with unattainable ways of achieving things, in reality (and trust me when I say) I am here to show you how simple life changes can be, and how they will absolutely help to create a better version of yourself.
5 things I integrated to feel empowered:
Daily gratitude
This was something I’ve learned to do daily. Essentially, we give thanks to ourselves, the people around us or even the universe for aligning us with things that fill our cup. For example, recently I gave gratitude to my partner for purchasing breakfast when we went out. This is something that can get lost in the noise of life, especially as we go out to breakfast so often that sometimes I never truly take a moment to thank her. It’s the little things, that are in fact big.
Learning from my failures!
I know this one is a scary one because we are all scared to fail. But be reminded that the rejection of something could be the redirection to something else, or that failure is often a learning opportunity for growth. It’s all about that re-framing our mindset to understand that failure is, in fact, good.
Be risky
Life is too short not to take a risk. I love plunging into something new. After all, really, what’s the worst that could happen? It often turns out for the better. And of course, as I mentioned above, if you fail, you’ll learn from your mistakes. Taking a risk on something in life can make you feel so empowered because it’s telling yourself that you can try something new. That you’ve taken that leap.
Generosity
Doing something for someone else is actually one of life’s best-kept secrets. This may not seem like the most common thing you’d think of when you want to feel empowered, but doing something nice for someone else is going to help boost serotonin and make you feel amazing. Added bonus? It’ll make the other person feel fabulous, too. Think of it as a joint serotonin rocket boost. This could be as simple as helping a friend out with something, performing an act of kindness or even volunteering.
Self-care and downtime
This might be the biggest takeaway for me when it came to empowerment. How did this manifest? I said no to the things, I learnt to set stronger boundaries, I understood that caring for my body was integral to my happiness and I took the time to rest and heal.
Bonus tip
I wanted to add in a little bonus tip that really helped me to feel empowered, and that was to understand my values. Having a better grasp of myself and my core principles helped me understand decision-making. For example, in life if I need to make a decision, I always revert back to these values. If it aligns, I say yes to something. If I feel compromised, and if I know instinctively that something isn’t aligned, I’ll decline or suggest a more fitting and true route.
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I hope that these small changes truly help you along your way of empowerment.
More:
- Pamela Anderson On ‘Life-Ing, Not Ageing’
- Bernadette Fahey Shares Her 10 Commandments For Wellness
- These Were Our Most Googled Personal Goals Over Summer
