What does it Mean to Empower?

To me, empowerment can be big or small, thoughts or words that build you and others up, bring deeper understanding, greater heights, and a happier, peaceful, and productive life.

You may never know how powerful your words and actions are, or ever realize the impact they make in other’s lives. Empowerment is an unstoppable force for good. A few words from a loved one or a stranger can change the way you think and proceed in your day.

“To empower someone is to give them the means to achieve something. It makes them stronger and more confident, ready to take control of their life, and to also be an advocate for themselves".

One issue that often gets in the way of creating our “best life” is that we don’t know what we don’t know. Learning to live in the power we each hold is the difference between “coping” & “managing” and “creating” & “living” the life we want for ourselves; the life we deserve. Take a moment to ponder these questions.

• Who has empowered you? Has anyone changed your perspective, the way you conduct yourself, or how you view a challenge? Do you empower others?

Here is a Great list of way to notice when your shifting into EMPOWERMENT taken from Susan Kingly-Smith blog on What does it mean to be “empowered”?

• We begin to shift to being able identify that we have choices vs thinking or believing we have no choices

• We begin to shift from a chronic sense of hopelessness to feeling hopeful

• We begin to consciously understand (recognize) “feeling powerless” is often the first step to owning our power

• We begin to see that it is through actively applying learned knowledge that we can have the wisdom to know what to do vs feeling hopeless or powerless because we don’t know what to do

• We begin to see that it is in shifting from talking about what we wish for to that of the doing as the path to transforming our life from the inside out vs seeking our solutions outside of ourselves

• We begin to identify as being whole and complete vs broken or “sick”

• We are able to recognize when we are “feeling” powerless and how to move through that to feeling “empowered”

• We begin to understand that no one but ourselves can “empower” us vs seeking for others to empower us/give us permission/provide us our answers

• We are able to actively engage in creating the life we want vs feeling powerless or unworthy to have anything different

• We understand that we have control over our physical body and can connect with it vs being/feeling disconnected from our physical self

• We begin to recognize patterns of interpersonal dynamics that are no longer working for us and knowing we can learn what we need to change repeating patterns that in the past led to a repeat of toxic relationships

• We come to an understanding that we create our happiness vs continuing to seek happiness through other people, places or things

• We start to see that we can create financial stability vs seeing life and finances as “not enough” or needing someone to “take care of us”

• We begin to see how we can use our stories to create change around us and actively engage in helping others vs staying stuck in our stories.

Sometimes the easiest way to empowerment is to change your perspective. Remember I am always here to support you to walk alongside you. I'm currently not taking on any new life coaching clients however I'm willing to support via positive messages or referring you on to someone who may be the right fit for you if you're looking for that type of support.