Self Empowerment

Self empowerment allows individuals to gain power and self determination. All people, races, and cultures should desire to achieve self empowerment.

One requirement of self empowerment is self-knowledge. As the ancient Greeks would say, "know thyself." Those desiring self empowerment must fully understand their thoughts, feelings and actions as best possible. Analyze them and try to consider them from an outsider's perspective. Think about how you actually behave and live, and compare that to how you would like to behave and live. By making how you actually live the same as how you would like to live, you have obtained a degree of self empowerment.

Fear, lack of creativity, dishonesty, and feelings of worthlessness or depression can detract from creating a sense of self empowerment. These negative emotions can stop people from achieving their goals and living life to the fullest extent. They can be created or enforced by other people, institutions, laws, or even by biological factors. One of the keys to self empowerment, therefore, is to analyze and make decisions because of positive emotions instead of negative ones, and to avoid negative emotions if possible. You may have to combat negative emotions and stereotypes, as many minorities have had to do and still do. For instance, women empowered themselves by gaining the right to vote in the U.S. after the passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. By gaining power and control over themselves, women were empowered and placed on more equal footing in life compared to men.

The path to self empowerment may lead the individual to question his or her religious beliefs, family beliefs, political ideals, and beliefs held about oneself. This does not mean that you will refute all previously held beliefs to be empowered, but instead your should examine them and decide what seems true and beneficial to you. Evaluate the effects that all of these beliefs have on your life, and cull any that prevent you from being in control of your destiny, replacing them with positive beliefs that affirm your self. You may want to explore the idea of empowerment theory to fully understand these concepts.