Self-empowerment includes cultivating skills that would ultimately allow you to influence certain outcomes and produce tangible results. This is different from merely feeling self-empowered. People may feel self-empowered by listening to a moving speech, but as new research correctly shows, people won’t in fact be empowered unless they’re able to measurably change an area of their lives.

1. Self-Empowerment Requires Awareness

Self-empowerment is the ability to be conscious of one’s choices so that you can choose who you want to become.

When people are dis-empowered, they lose sight of what they are capable of. So the first step to becoming self-empowered is to fully apprehend that you do have options. Sometimes these options not immediately within reach, but they’re there. 

2. People Who Take Away from Your Self-Empowerment

You might not be the only culprit in your dis-empowerment. There might be other people in your life who keep bringing you down. These could be friends, family and even partners. And if you keep letting them have a say over you, then you’re never going to take responsibility for your life. Stop giving away your power and let go of immature thought patterns. Continuing on this route will only fuel feelings of inferiority, and you’ll believe that you’re “less” than others.

When you feel inferior, you’re going to believe them when they tell you to “accept things the way they are,” and “to just adapt”. They’re going to tell there’s no way out and that you’re stuck, and if you don’t take responsibility, then you won’t make it.

There are things you can do today to let go and begin a process of positive change.

3. Self-Empowerment Requires Courage

Courage is the second pillar of self-empowerment. It is your anchor for any real and lasting transformation in life. Courage will help you overcome your fears, try new things, to quit things that don’t work, to find new relationships, and to start your first business. Courage will also make you help, love, learn, give back, forgive, start over, to stand up for yourself, to stand up for others, to say yes, and to say no. 

4. Paradigm Shift for Self-Empowerment

A paradigm shift in your thinking is a precursor to self-empowerment.

A paradigm is a belief system within which you define yourself and the world in a coherent way. The coherence of these beliefs depends on the web of principles, values, and judgements that you have formed about who you are. In any given paradigm, events are interpreted in accordance with the “rules” of that paradigm and as such derive their credibility from it.

In other words, you think that your beliefs about yourself and the world around you are true as long as they “fit in” the greater scheme of that paradigm.

We all live within paradigms. We all have beliefs about who we are and why we are the way we are. While some paradigms are empowering, others can be dis-empowering. For example, a person who lacks self-confidence might believe that social situations provoke anxiety and such situations must be avoided.

People justify their low self-confidence by appealing to the set of beliefs they have about themselves and about social situations; such as beliefs about strangers, beliefs about social rejection, and belief about awkwardness around new people. These beliefs will make your perception of your low self-confidence level true. This happens because each belief coheres with the rest of the beliefs that are members of that paradigm.

5. Empower Yourself by Being Growth Oriented

Many of the personal challenges that people experience such as low self-confidence, lack of productivity, certain financial challenges; etc., arise from living in a performance-oriented paradigm. This paradigm contains rigid and fixed beliefs about oneself and the processes of doing something well.

The person that operates within that paradigm is concerned with how they look. They’re preoccupied with how others see them. They’re trapped in a constant evaluation of themselves and their performance. This is an unhealthy paradigm to be in because you will never leave your comfort zone for the “fear” of letting yourself and others down. People who are performance-oriented also tend to be judgmental and are less likely to do well in team projects. Let go and to make mistakes. People can be so self-absorbed that they won’t even remember your mistakes.

On the other hand, a growth-oriented paradigm is one in which you don’t judge yourself. You take on experiences because you know that becoming good at something requires working and probably failing along the way. Focus on growth and learning as opposed to saying: “I should know how to do this, or I won’t try it.” A growth oriented paradigm allows you to take chances, to meet new people, to learn new skills, and to grow your earnings. It allows you to live an exciting fulfilling life.

6. Elements of a Growth-Oriented Paradigm

There are two key elements to a self-empowered life, and they are competency and knowledge.

Competency: Having a good sense of your skills and strengths will give you a rough estimate about which of the areas you’re likely to do well and which of these areas will challenge you. Understanding what you’re not good at is both a humbling and exciting. You’re not expected to know everything about whatever you want to do. People do appreciate it when you say “I am not really good at this,” or “that’s not my strength.” Approach your weaknesses with a curious mind and focus on learning.

Knowledge: If you want to embark on a new journey, then you need to identify what you need to know in order to get there. But don’t stop yourself from taking action. Every journey is a process of discovery and it is impossible to know everything you need to know ahead of going through the experience. Learn as you grow.