EMPOWER YOURSELF – Ask for what you want
WOMEN have come a long way since the days when they were seen as chattel, not being allowed to work outside the home and only performing domestic duties and having babies.
Today, women have climbed the power ladder and are making their impact on just about every sector of society.
On International Women’s Day yesterday, held under the theme ‘Empowering women, empowering humanity: picture it!’, more women were encouraged to join the empowerment fight through changing key things in their everyday lives.
“A woman can empower herself by clarifying her goals for all the significant areas of her life,” says Cheryll Messam, certified professional life and corporate coach. “She can achieve these by prioritising them — career, family, health, finances, friends, marriage, parenting, fun and enjoyment — and pursuing the goals systematically.”
You can also:
1. Ask for what you want. Empowerment can come through learning to ask for what you want without being self-conscious or apologetic about doing so.
2. Prepare yourself. Prepare yourself academically, financially, emotionally and spiritually in order to occupy decision-making and politically influential posts in business, government, education and all major institutions within society.
3. Understand how you are viewed. A woman has to understand how she is viewed and how she is valued in her culture. She has to be strategic in how she operates so that she can achieve the things that she considers important for her life.
4. Be a positive role model. Learn how to and become a positive role model both within your family and in the society at large so that everyone who comes in contact with you can look up to you.
5. Command respect. Cultivate healthy boundaries and respect the boundaries of others, while insisting that they respect yours.
6. Be financially healthy. Ensure that not only are you financially secure, but that you are financially independent. Being financially healthy means having some amount of savings put aside, money set aside for retirement, and balancing your income and spending.
