In the last post of the series, I talked about reasons why you may not be feeling empowered.  Now let’s get a little deeper and talk about ways to change that around.  Today, think about the things in your life that are truly giving you joy and feeling that you are fulfilling your purpose.  Every time in my life that I haven’t felt empowered it was mostly my fault.  Yeah, there will always be outside circumstances affecting me but it’s my choice to let them permanently consume me.  The main thought to keep in mind is the fact that you have to make the choice to change.

It is my responsibility to get up every day and make the best out of the time given to me.  Some days I have chosen to sulk, others I have chosen to do only what will rejuvenate me, and others to spend time creating.  Each decision creates an end result.

Question to ask yourself-  Are you stuck in a victim mentality?

I can’t begin to count how many times I was stuck in a rut and I filled my mind with reasons why things weren’t working out for me.  It turned out that I was just becoming a victim of my circumstance and that part was my fault.  This is probably the hardest mindset to get out of when life really isn’t going your way.  When you look at your situation from the outside, it takes strength to see that you may be allowing it to continue rather than facing it.

How to be empowered

When you are going through a hard time, it’s okay to spend some time reflecting and accepting your emotions.  It’s good to temporarily give in to human nature and face your feelings.  It’s not good for you to contain your feelings and push them aside.  The only thing you are doing is keeping your emotions trapped.

Ready for one of my weird analogies?  When you’re not feeling empowered and you don’t know how to be empowered, negative feelings arise.  Mad, bad, or sad feelings are like mold.  If you don’t clean it up and kill it off with bleach, it only spreads and the problem gets worst.  Eliminating the problem involves exposing the affected area, cleaning it, and continuing to keep the area clean.

How does this relate to you?

When negative feelings arise, you have to deal with them head on.  You have to face them and do what you can to make them better.  If you want to know how to be empowered, that’s where you begin.  Sometimes it involves dealing with personal emotions or behaviors that you really don’t want to “clean up”.

Take Action

Here are three simple starter steps:

Step 1: Get off your butt!

I know it’s much easier to sulk in your sad state and continue riding the pity train but it is so much better when you get off of it.  I’m sure you can think back on days, weeks, months, or even years that you have been in the same cycle knowing that you aren’t happy with it.  Take one simple step today and think about what would make you feel like you’re making an impact in the world.

Step 2:  Identify the culprits.

Do you have some bad habits that you know are holding you back?  Is there a relationship you have with a significant other, a friend, or even a family member that you know is toxic to your life?  Think about the things, habits, or people in your life that you know aren’t helping your wellbeing.   Is there anything you are doing to numb your reality?  I know this is a hard one.  However, just like in fitness- you won’t see abs until you burn the fat.

Step 3:  Make a plan.

What have you been dying to do one day?  What have you been dreaming of?  There is something in your life that you know would bring you the utmost joy.  Start making a plan so that you can achieve that one day.  Once you start taking the right steps toward that achievement, you will start to feel empowered.

Remember, this is just one method on how to be empowered.  You have to be the one to do the work.  As life goes on and I get closer to God, I realize that there is a lot going on in the background that will try to keep me from achieving my goals.  When I feed into that, I lose power.  I feel the most empowered when I’m fighting back.

You have only one life and one chance to make an impact on the world.  Stop wasting time sulking and feeling powerless.  Take action now and get onto Step 1!