Empowerment means many things to many people. Be it personal or professional, empowering ourselves is the need of this hour. Unfortunately, everything has become a competition now-a-days and we are expected to be at the top of the game, always, which is impossible and not fair too!!
Rising to the stands is one thing, facing challenges head-on is another but being at the top always is kind of tiring I would say. You can’t be a winner always and need not be!
What is true empowerment?
To me, personally if I am a better person than I was yesterday then I have moved a step forward in the right direction. To me that is empowerment, me being better than yesterday. Taking one step at a time is all that matters but the important thing is to take a step! Unless we try that, we will never know what we can do and not do. The courage to take that next step even after knowing it might be a little hard is empowerment to me. The meaning of empowerment in Oxford Dictionary is “the process of becoming stronger and more confident”. Show the world you are much better than they assumed and will only keep getting better!
Why is empowerment needed?
Empowerment is needed for us to grow. When you hear all kinds of noises around you saying, this is not going to happen or you will not be able to accomplish, empower yourself and keep climbing higher and higher that you can no longer hear those voices. These voices are always going to be there around us, it's up to us to either succumb to that or succeed from it. Like the noise cancellation headphones in the market, we need to tune ourselves to cancel all those negativity and focus on what's important to us. Nobody is going to know us better than ourselves so don't give power to those unwanted noises. Big or small every little step to your betterment is a success and that will be possible only when you choose to become stronger.
Becoming a stronger and confident person shows that you are more than all that setback and you choose to get back up, dust it off and run again, which to me is empowerment. All along without your knowledge and any extra efforts, you made a point to people around you that nothing can stop you from hitting the ground again. Running your race at your own pace not minding anyone or anything is a success story in itself. You don't have to prove to anyone but yourself that you are stronger than you think and braver than you know and all it takes is that one step towards your success story.
How to be empowered?
Improving ourselves and being confident of our goals gives us the courage that we can do great things. Focusing on our next step is more important than the outside disturbances. Don't belittle yourself with doubts and insecurities thinking you might not be able to do it. If you put your mind to it and start doing anything you want to do, you can achieve it. Even when you go through troubles and have decided not to surrender, it is strength and empowerment to me. Because you were resilient to win, nothing or no one can stop you from becoming a success.
At the moment, the world needs people to whom they can look up to for encouragement all the while gaining confidence that there was a trailblazer ahead of me and I can do it too.
That one little step taken everyday to become a better person defines empowerment to me!!
There is a saying that goes, “Life does not have a remote, get up and change it yourself”. Your life is in your hands and not others, so get up and move!
Maya Angelou once said, “ You may not control all the events that happen to you but you can decide not to be reduced by them”
Cut back all the unwanted noises and stay focussed on becoming a testament for many around you. Take that one step, be stronger, better than yesterday and reach your goal as planned, empowered.
About the Author
Shalini Solomon comes with close to 15 years of industry experience in the Human Resources space. She is currently designated as Head - People and Values with Kazh Fintech Private Limited. She likes to interact with people and makes sure they have the space to grow and learn and are free to work without any pressure. People first is always her approach. She holds an Engineering degree in Computer Science.