9 best ways to empower yourself as a woman
It is an interesting time to be a woman in a society today where you can empower yourself. Reforms are taking place, and women are no longer treated as second place.
Over the years women have always been treated as the least or the bottom in the food chain. However, that is no longer the case as more changes are taking place and women are gradually moving to the top of the food chain.
Societal rules, upbringing, and certain religious practices have tried to always put women down and make them feel secondary.
A lot of female children grew up with the mentality that a woman’s place is in the kitchen and bedroom. A girl that was groomed with this mentality will grow up to be a woman with little to no regard for herself or her beliefs.
Gone are the days when women sit at home all day long to serve as chefs or maids, women are making changes worldwide while still taking good care of their homes.
Through the advancement of technology, you can be a housewife but still have an e-commerce store. There are so many different businesses women can engage in right from the comfort of their homes, they include;
- Virtual assistant
- Website developer
- Social media manager
- UI/UX designer
- Digital marketer
- Forex trader
- Content creator
- Content manager
- Vlogger
- Blogger
And so many other opportunities that pay awesomely for remote jobs, all you need are the skills and a good portfolio.
Being a full-time housewife is not an excuse for the underdevelopment of one’s personal capacity. The world is constantly evolving and women are moving at its pace.
An era of change has dawned for women and every woman in the world should grasp this opportunity to empower and change her life.
Get rid of the bedroom and kitchen mentality, do away with all limiting beliefs that want to keep you in the dark. Join the train of women who are ceaselessly improving their lives and encouraging their female children to strive for the top.
What is empowerment?
For the purpose of this article, we will define empowerment as the act of educating oneself’s with the necessary skills in order to strive and achieve better.
For instance, if a lady discovers that she is passionate about graphic designs but lacks the skills. She can resort to learning about her new interest by reading about the new concept, watching videos, or paying for a class.
By doing this she has successfully empowered herself with another skill that can boost her linked in profile and account balance.
Empowerment can be a personal or third party, the type of empowerment does not really matter as long as it serves its purpose. Which is to ensure that the individual learns new skills that can be beneficial to them now and in the nearest future.
The types of empowerment include;
- Personal empowerment: Empowerment can be self-instigated, (I.e an individual decided to empower themselves). A woman can be motivated by another woman’s success, a book she read, or a particular movie she watched.
These motivations can cause a woman to embark on a self-improvement journey. This can be also be referred to as capacity development.The lady has discovered that she is lacking behind in some areas and has decided to do her best in order to improve her capability.
There is a very popular saying that ‘no one can change a man except he decides to change. This summarizes the whole concept of personal empowerment, it is an exercise done by a woman for herself.
Steps involved in personal empowerment
- The motivating factor: Before a woman decides to engage in personal empowerment, there is a factor catalyzing this personal change. It could be a podcast she listened to, a book she read, or a movie she watched.
There are so many factors that play vital roles in influencing a change in a woman. Whatever fosters the series of events that led to a change is known as the motivating factor.
- For change to occur the individual must have realized the need for one. No one can affect a change when they don’t see the need for one. When a woman can acknowledge that she is slacking then she will be willing to improve her skills.
- Researching about the area she needs to improve on is the next step. If you want to improve your fashion sense then go right for it. Read about your body shape, what looks better on you and where to purchase them.
If you want to learn a skill then you can read about the particular skill you want to learn. Check if it something you can do, how it can help to improve your life or bank account.
- Get to work: After conducting your research about the work the next thing to do is to take the necessary steps in achieving the new skill you want to acquire. Don’t procrastinate, don’t listen to naysayers, stay positive and empower yourself because you can.
- Third-Party empowerment: this occurs in different ways, it can be organized by different people in different parts of the world. Women empower women by supporting their businesses, recommending for jobs.
The government or a non-governmental organization might also empower women with monetary schemes or skill acquisition.
Don’t let opportunities like these pass you by. If you are privileged to be part of a third-party empowerment program, ensure that you make good use of the opportunity.
10 Ways to empower yourself
- Learn a new skill: the world is making room for women who know what they want. Women who work really hard to achieve all they desire. If you want to empower yourself as a woman you must be willing to learn new skills. Don’t fold your arms and wait for change to knock at your door.
Start with the things that surround you. Learn public speaking, improve your networking skills and constantly build your general knowledge.
Don’t allow the changes in the world to push you off your feet. Be fully prepared and when the changes come you can soar instead of fall.
- Read books: there is a popular saying that readers are leaders. The new emerging society is packed with a lot of female leaders. To be a leader you need to possess the necessary qualities, you can learn most of these qualities from the comfort of your home.
The internet is packed with a lot of information about current and past leaders. You can read about past leaders to learn some outstanding characters that they possess and how useful it was in their leadership.
Don’t just read books on leadership, ensure that you have a vast knowledge of different you don’t want to be left gobsmacked in a meeting.
- Learn to say no without an explanation: Sometimes you might feel bad when you say no to someone, this is quite understandable.
However, if you are fond of this character then you are completely wrong. Learn to say no to people without feeling bad about it. There are some times you just don’t feel like doing certain things and this is absolutely normal.
You are unapologetically free to say a very big no to the things you don’t want to do no one will beat you for it. Stop trying to be the people-pleaser who tries to figure out every one feelings before theirs.
Put yourself first then you will learn how to treat others. If people discover that you always do their bidings just to please them, this will be used as your Achilles heel. The next time someone invites you out if you don’t want to go then just say a big no.
- Be optimistic: you can expect to feel empowered when all you do is fill up your head with negative expectations.
If you want to empower yourself as a lady you need to fill yourself with positive thoughts. Quit beating yourself up about past regrets and most especially stop picturing bad events about your future.
- Stop playing the victim card: ladies is about time we stop playing the victim and start being more responsible for ourselves and actins.
If you did something hurtful to some be the bigger person and apologize for your mistake. There is absolutely no need to start the fault finding game so go straight to the point and apologize for your actions.
- Engage in self-care: An empowered woman knows that she needs to stay healthy in order to achieve all her dreams and goals.
Eating a well-balanced diet, drinking water, exercising, and maintaining a healthy mental state are the top keys to self-care. Women are known for taking care of others and putting themselves last. This is a wrong practice, an over-stressed woman can fall ill or die if she doesn’t take proper care of herself.
Your health should be a top priority to you, don’t try to compromise your well-being because it is very essential.
- Don’t stay around people that belittle you: if you have friends that always make you feel little then this should be the right time to get rid of them.
Avoid them like the plague, don’t be in a circle that makes your dreams seem like an unachievable fairytale. Stay around people that motivate you to work hard and achieve your dreams.
Always remember that quitters never win and winners never quit. Choice your friends wisely, don’t let someone with a mediocrity mindset stop you from achieving your dreams.
- Learn to give to others: If you don’t give what is present in your hands how do you expect to have more? If a farmer buys over 1,000 seeds but refuses to give the ground any seeds(planting) he will not have any harvest.
This is the same as a woman who has achieved little success but receives to share her knowledge or harvest. When you give out what you know, it doesn’t completely die. Just like the farmer that plants his seeds, the seeds die first before they slowly start growing.
It even takes a long time for fruit-bearing and maturation to occur. The same occurs when you give out what you already have. You are sowing a seed that may take a while to grow.
The more you give the more empowered you feel, the higher you grow and the cycle continues. If you aren’t a giver you should consider adding that to the list of things you want to try out.
- Don’t play with learning opportunities: Education is a very important tool that every woman needs in this journey of empowerment.
You cannot embark on a journey without making the necessary preparations. The journey of empowerment requires one of the most essential tools ((education).
This doesn’t only entails going to school to gain a formal education. It also covers other forms of education including books, podcasts, seminars, and other educational materials.
If you are not willing to study, then you are not ready to get empowered. Without the right education, you cannot attain the kind of empowerment you desire. A woman who refuses to be educated is a woman who says no to woman empowerment.
Tips to consider for a successful empowerment
- Celebrate your little success
- Begin with little steps
- Celebrate other women successes
- Don’t try to dim another woman’s shine
- Make friends that are driven to continuous empowerment
Conclusion
Women are great just like men, the two genders are equal and should be treated fairly. Don’t let anyone make you feel bad for being a woman.
Be extremely proud of your identity and never accept disrespect from anyone not even Yourself. Be willing to engage in beneficial activities that are productive to your growth.
Empowerment can begin with something as little as saying no to people that deserve it without apologizing.
You got what it takes to achieve everything you need and not even your narcissistic boss can stop you.