Taking control of your life begins with understanding the power within you. After all, the only thing you control is you: what you think and how you respond.
Self-empowerment is the key to unlocking a fulfilling life. By having the self-awareness to ask questions like, “How do I empower myself?” you’ll discover that personal empowerment doesn’t just change your mindset; it transforms your decisions, relationships, and opportunities.
Life empowerment stems from small actions that lead to significant changes. One individual snowflake may seem insignificant, but you’ll soon realize that each single snowflake can amount to a massive self-empowerment blizzard in your life. And that means lots of incremental changes.
Empowerment activities for adults can help guide you to better manage challenges, improve self-esteem, and embrace your true potential. For instance, self-empowerment examples like setting clear goals or learning to say no are small but impactful steps.
Let’s explore the not-so-well-kept secrets to self-empowerment so you can take charge of your journey with confidence.
So, How DO I Empower Myself?
1. Understand Your Values
Empowerment starts with understanding your core values. What drives your decisions and gives your life meaning? Take some time to reflect on what truly matters and ensure your actions align with these principles. So many times, we spin our wheels worrying about things that won’t matter a week from now.
2. Set Clear Goals
Lined out your values. Good start. Now, define specific, actionable goals that align with your values. Whether it’s learning a new skill or enhancing your relationships, having clear objectives provides a sense of direction and purpose. I’m a huge proponent of self-help, so why not start with something like the book Forgiveness by Iyanla Vanzant?
3. Practice Positive Self-Talk
Words have power, especially the ones you say to yourself. Replace self-doubt with affirmations and encouraging statements to build confidence. For example, instead of saying, “Gosh, I’ve really let physical appearance go,” try replacing that statement with, “I love myself and my body at any size.”
4. Take Responsibility
Ownership is vital to empowerment. Acknowledge your strengths and weaknesses, and understand that your choices shape your life’s path. By owning your decisions, you’ll cultivate a proactive mindset. I’ll warn that this part may suck. You may have to own, like I did, that I’m a spoiled brat. But in owning that, I was able to uncover that this part of me simply prefers to enjoy many comforts of life.
5. Learn and Grow
Invest in personal development. Read, attend workshops, or engage in mentorships. Growth doesn’t happen overnight, but consistent effort will lead to transformation. It takes true courage to engage in personal development. It takes bravery to stick with it long-term, as the stick-with-it-ness requires exploring every aspect of your personality, good, bad, and otherwise.
Personal Empowerment = Self-Empowerment = Life Empowerment
I know the equation is slipshod at best from my days in Algebra, but you get the point. Personal empowerment is self-empowerment, and by doing both, you empower your life.
Let’s explore some ways that empowerment can help change your life.
1. It helps you to embrace inner strength
Believe it or not, everything you need, you already have somewhere deep in side of you. You’re dealt a specialized set of cards when you come into this life—you simply have to understand how to play your hand. Personal empowerment allows you to harness your inner strength to navigate challenges effectively. It’s not just about external success but cultivating resilience and emotional resilience, intelligence, maturity, and stability.
2. You build confidence and independence
Taking the steps to empower yourself through things like therapy, for example, will help you develop confidence in the person you call you. When you empower yourself this way, you learn to rely on your ability to make decisions without relying on others. This breeds independence and gives you a sense of freedom and control over your life.
3. Life empowerment creates ripple effects
When people around you see you doing something aspirational and inspirational, it inspires them to try to make changes in their lives. While life empowerment begins within you and your experience, others may reap the benefits of observing you. You may find that you create deeper and more fulfilling relationships.
4. Personal empowerment breaks off the shackles
There’s a song by gospel group Mary Mary that says, “Take the shackles off my feet so I can dance!” This is what personal empowerment does. It removes the shackles and gives you the autonomy to look at your life and challenge any limiting beliefs you may have. In this perspective shift, you’ll overcome obstacles and achieve goals that once seemed out of reach.
How to Get Started in Self-Empowerment
There are practical activities for adults that you can begin today to start down the road to self-empowerment. Below are a few that are easy to explore and implement:
- Find and take a local class. Explore artistic outlets like painting, writing, or dance classes. Creative activities provide a space to express yourself, discover hidden talents, or develop talents you didn’t know you had. I personally found my joy and developed a love for taekwondo during my empowerment journey.
- Go on a retreat, conference, or workshop. There are so many personal development, meditation, mindfulness, self-reflection, and goal-setting retreats, conferences, and workshops that are held both in person and virtually these days. Try attending one on a weekend and seeing what you take away from it.
- Learn a new skill. What is something you’ve always wanted to do or had interest in but you never had the opportunity to do? Play piano? Take voice lessons? Take ballet? It’s never too late to begin. Pick a skill you’ve always wanted to learn and commit to mastering it.
- Volunteer. Volunteer to be a part of a community project in some way, whether its taking tickets at the door or making safe-sex kits to hand out to the community like I did with our local LGBT alliance. Be a part of a local clean-up effort. These types of roles can help you build a sense of community and purpose and help strengthen self-confidence.
This little gem of an unknown book was a recommendation to me by a friend. It’s quick read and full of life-changing, actionable advice and is worth you checking out!
Self-Empowerment Examples: Real-Life Scenarios
All this stuff is good in theory, but what happen’s when you have to take it out of the theoretical lab and put it into real life? I’ve come up with a few examples of what this may look like based on my own experiences and those I’ve witnessed. Names, of course, have been changed.
Setting Boundaries
Sarah used to overcommit, saying yes to everything out of guilt or fear of disappointing others. This left her feeling drained and unable to focus on much of anything. Eventually, she took a class on the power of no. She learned to say no and own her no.
By learning this skill, she was able to set firm boundaries and Sarah create a balance in her life. This shift allowed her to put herself first without feeling overwhelmed or selfish.
Pursuing Education
My buddy John felt stuck in his career but wasn’t sure how to move forward. He knew he had to work to pay bills, and he knew he needed money, but he felt he was in a dead-end job. He put in a thousand resumes. I even helped him reformat his resume and made it read better.
After getting a bevy of rejection letters, he decided to take matters into his own hands and enrolled in an online certification program that aligned with his career goals.
The process of learning something new reignited his drive to give looking for a new job another try and boosted his confidence.
With his new credentials, John successfully transitioned to a more fulfilling role within a matter of weeks.
Overcoming Fear
My fear of singing in public held me back from so many opportunities to do what I love. I came into this life knowing how to sing and having an incredible ear, but I was too nervous and shy when I got in front of people to do what I knew I could do behind closed doors.
To address this, I joined a local independent choir, where she practiced singing in a supportive environment. Over time, I gained confidence and began volunteering for solos.
What once was a source of anxiety became one of my greatest strengths, opening doors to things like songwriting and being recruited by major record labels for background vocal opportunities.
Starting a Side Hustle
My good friend Mark had always enjoyed woodworking as a hobby but never thought it could become more. He was just talented with it.
After encouragement from his wife and our family, he started selling his handmade furniture locally on Facebook. He allowed people to customize their pieces. Not only did this provide him with extra income that helped him quit his 9-5 job, but it also gave him a sense of purpose and pride in his craftsmanship.
His side hustle became a way to express creativity while building financial security and a whole new career.
Conclusion
Self-empowerment isn’t a one-time effort; it’s a lifelong journey of self-discovery and growth. By embracing your values, setting goals, and taking action, you can unlock the incredible potential within.
Personal empowerment isn’t just about achieving success; it’s about finding joy, confidence, and purpose in everyday moments. Remember, even small steps like journaling or learning a new skill can create a ripple effect in your life.
The journey to empowerment begins today. Take the first step and watch your life transform into a fulfilling, dynamic adventure.
Empowerment is yours to claim—are you ready to take charge of your life?