Self-Empowerment: 10 Tips For Black Women
Self-empowerment sounds simple, doesn’t it? Well, it isn’t always. Life is always there to throw challenges and sometimes, you have to rely on yourself to stay strong and confident to weather the storm. So, if you’re a black woman looking for self-empowerment tips, then you’ve come to the right place. Read on for 10 top tips.
1. Self care
Whatever your goal in life, self-care is important. It means different things to different people — for some, it could mean getting to bed at a good time and drinking enough water, for others, it’s waking up early to do meditation and write in their journal. Whatever your version of self-care is, it’s time to practice it. By looking after yourself and building up positive habits, you’ll put yourself in the best possible position to empower yourself. If you’re exhausted or depleted, you’ll put yourself at a huge disadvantage.
2. Positive self-talk
What you say to yourself can make a huge difference – it can impact how you feel, what you do and what you can achieve. Rather than focusing on the negatives, on what you don’t have or what you can’t do, change your self-talk to a more positive language. Focus on what you can do or what you will do, such as saying “I can’t code yet” rather than just saying “I can’t code”. Using the language of abundance will feed into your thoughts and empower you to do better in your everyday life.
3. Acknowledge your worth
Admitting what you’re good at doesn’t always come easy, but it’s so important. Empower yourself by acknowledging your worth. If you find this difficult to think about or say out loud, consider writing this down as a note, in a journey or even writing it up on the wall. If you hold yourself with dignity and grace, you can rise above situations that could be potentially confrontational or distressing. An empowered person knows their value and is able to have discipline and confidence to rise above drama or aggression.
4. Stay open
Staying open to opportunities, relationships, and creativity. By staying open and positive, you can empower yourself to achieve whatever you want to. If you stay closed to ideas and opportunities, you restrict yourself and stop personal growth. Empower yourself by being ready and open to having a better life. Trust yourself to take the right opportunities as they come towards you, and you’ll be surprised at the exciting adventures you’ll go on.
5. Find what brings you joy
Before you can achieve your goals, you need to discover what brings you joy. This will set you on a path to success and happiness. What brings you joy will be different to what brings happiness to others, so, rather than focus on generic things such as money or career success, nail down those specific things that really make you tick. By identifying these things, you can then work towards them, empowering your own success.
6. Focus on your own success
This means you need to run your own race and ignore what everyone else is doing. The saying ‘comparison is the thief of happiness’ really is true. By focusing on yourself, what you’re doing, how you’re achieving your goals and working to improve yourself, you can stay focused and in the game. Self-empowerment is all about keeping your eyes on the prize. So, don’t worry about what your best friend is doing, worry about what you’re doing.
7. Set goals
It’s impossible to achieve goals without having them. To empower yourself to achieve and be the best you can be, first you need to clearly understand what you’re working towards. To keep yourself accountable and keep working, try writing these out and putting them up on a wall in your house so you can see them multiple times a day. If you’re really struggling to understand what your goals are, you can consider reaching out to a life coach who can help you realize what you’re looking for. When you have these goals in place, you can create a plan to achieve them and empower yourself to work every day to reach your goals.
8. Invest in yourself
Now you have your goals, you know what you’re looking for. The next step is to realize that you really can achieve those goals – whether it’s going back to university to get the right qualification for your dream job, or it’s starting your own business. Consider financially backing yourself and empowering yourself to achieve those goals. Take the steps to secure backing for your dreams, whether that be by courting investors, seeking financial aid from schemes or exploring Buddy Loans. You can also find a therapist to support you mentally and facilitate your growth.
9. Surround yourself with inspiration
The path to self-empowerment can be bumpy and full of challenges. To keep you buoyed up and on the path to improvement, surround yourself with inspiration. Reading the works of strong black women can be helpful (such as Michelle Obama’s Becoming) and curating your social media following to include strong or inspirational black women. Self-empowerment is easier when you’re surrounded by positive, inspirational people, so ensure your friendships are as positive and nurturing as they can be.
10. Embrace imperfections, keep focused
Success is never an easy road, and self-growth is one of the most complex paths you can travel. On your journey of self-empowerment, you’re bound to encounter setbacks. As a black woman, chances are you’ll encounter some more difficult moments in your journey than others might. So, it’s important to remember that whatever the setback, you can pick yourself up and start again. As an empowered woman, you are the captain of your ship and you can choose to keep moving, keep growing and keep achieving your dreams.
While this is not a definitive list of tips for self-empowerment, it should hopefully provide you with some inspiration and food for thought. True self-empowerment takes time and effort, but by working on yourself, you can achieve the greatest rewards.
