Ctr* Alt* Delete Toward Self-Empowerment
Self-empowerment means making a conscious decision to take charge of your destiny. It involves making positive choices, taking action to advance, and being confident in your ability to make and execute decisions. Self-empowerment allows individuals to recognize that you have the power to make choices that can help you achieve your goals.
Ctr * Alt * Delete. Control yourself. Alter your thinking. Delete negativity. Self-empowerment means making a conscious decision to take charge of your destiny. It involves making positive choices, taking action to advance, and being confident in your ability to make and execute decisions. Self-empowerment allows individuals to recognize that you have the power to make choices that can help you achieve your goals. How do you respond when you face setbacks in your career, educational or personal goals? Do you sulk? Feel sorry for yourself? Blame others? For example, if there is an opportunity for a promotion on your job, you feel you are qualified and have the skills for the position. You apply, interview, and WHAM, they promote someone else. And to make things worse, the person they promoted over you, you trained them when they got there. How do you respond? Are you pissed off? Do you shut down? Do you quit? Do you walk around looking pitiful, feeling sorry for yourself? If you are a college student struggling in one of your classes. At the end of the semester, you fail the class or have to withdraw from the course, leading you to pay for the class again and retake it the next semester. How do you respond? Do you get mad at the professor? Do you not retake the course? Do you change your major? Do you talk yourself out of continuing your college goals? Do you come up with excuse after excuse? When we face major disappointments in our life, we sometimes allow negativity, self-doubt, and defeat to creep in. When this happens, we have to snap out of it quickly before we begin to slide down a slippery slope. You must control yourself, alter your thinking, and delete negativity. What do you mean, Dr. J? I have experienced both scenarios I described earlier.
I will be honest I didn’t handle it very well. It took my mother to snap me out of it and remind me that I am not a quitter. So, I'm not telling you anything I have not experienced, and it won't happen overnight. First, you must control yourself by getting up and taking action, if this means taking classes to build your skill sets, applying outside your company or organization, networking, etc. If you are in school, it might include signing up for a study group, securing a tutor, and taking a remedial class to build up your foundational academic skills. In addition, you might have to step away from those friends and colleagues that are naysayers and enablers that feed into negative self-pity.
If you find yourself experiencing some of the same things that I did the good news is there are practical steps you can take as you journey toward self-empowerment.
1. Develop a Positive Attitude.
Reflect on your strengths and weaknesses, pursue your passions and trust in your abilities.
2. Set Reasonable Goals.
Measurable, achievable goals can help you feel good about your achievements and build confidence
3. Surround Yourself with Positive People
Surround yourself with like-minded, motivated people. Schedule time with positive friends, peers, and family members if your self-esteem takes a hit. Being by yourself during these stressful times can allow negativity to creep in.
4. Practice Self-Care.
Do something for yourself that makes you feel happy and healthy.
Schedule time to rest, relax and rejuvenate. It will make you more productive and enable you to overcome challenges you might face with a clear mind.
5. Use Positive Self-Talk
Saying positive affirmations out loud to yourself will help change the negative narrative we internalize. Examples… I AM Enough, I AM Qualified, I CAN Learn this, I AM Beautiful….
6. Create an Action List.
Empowered people act, exhibit a growth mindset, and are comfortable learning and developing their abilities. However, remember that these action steps should be measurable and attainable with your goals.
What is it you need to Control* Alt* Delete as you begin walking in your purpose by developing or strengthening your self-empowerment?
