How to empower yourself ? Embrace self-discovery, empower yourself & make a positive impact on the world. More often than not, we find people blaming external factors for their failures. But are they really the reason for what happens with your life? If you were to do a little bit of honest introspection, you will realize that you were wrong. Being in control of your lives is something that needs to come from within you. The feeling of being confident, resilient and positive, in a nutshell being ‘empowered’ entirely depends on your thoughts and actions.
This is where self-discovery plays a key part. Especially in the lives of students. As they enter their teens, they pass through an exciting period of life, where they are full of bustling energy and raring to explore the world. They are curious about virtually everything around them. It is also a confusing period. They experience rapid bodily changes. Their thinking too is quick paced. Questions such as “what will I become in the future”, “what is the career path that I need to choose”, “what I should do to achieve my goals?, etc., are whirring inside them.
Role of parents and educators
The voyage of self-discovery is a fascinating one. Remember, every child born in this planet has a set of unique talents. So, how do they tap into these innate abilities, while also adhering to positive values and grow up to be responsible citizens. This is an area where parents and educators also need to play a key role.
The first thing that they should do is to allow kids to explore as many activities possible. Whether it is essay competitions, science fairs, mathematic Olympiads, spell bee, drawing contests, dance, music, debates, or sports, give them a free rein. It’s a sort of trial and error period for them in their self-discovery journey. Let them channelize their abundance of energy in finding their inner calling. As elders we just need to observe their interests. Is your son always the first to hit the tennis courts and the last to leave? Or is dance the passion of your daughter? Does your kid get lost and doesn’t know the number of hours that have passed once he or she begins writing? All such things can be pointers to their passion.
Embrace self-discovery
While all this is fine, how do you build the resilience and confidence to excel in their chosen fields? How do they get the will power to surmount the challenges on their way to success in their chosen field? This is where values such as honesty and integrity play a key role. The key is not just ‘wish’ but to ‘do’. They need to do an honest Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threat (SWOT) analysis.
How to empower yourself ? It makes you to Identify your strengths and weaknesses. As mentioned earlier, be realistic in your assessment. If you have weaknesses, accept them gracefully and work upon eradicating them. There is after all no point in wishing away weaknesses. For example, if your goal is to become a public speaker but you freeze when you stand on the podium, then accept the reality. This will help you find a solution to the issue. Maybe you can start off by speaking in front of a few good friends.
Gradually, you can try speaking in front of your classroom, then at the school assembly, etc. This is also where the guidance and feedback of their parents and educators matters. They need to be constantly reminding them about positive character traits and teach them there are no substitutes to honesty, truthfulness and hard work for achieving anything meaningful
in the world.
Once people at a young age inculcate these learnings, in their self-discovery pursuits, this is where empowerment kicks in. They gradually begin to feel more confident. They develop the resilience to keep persevering and surmounting challenges. Educators need to keep observing their progress and keep raising the benchmarks.
Finally, How to empower yourself ? Empowerment through self-discovery is a transformative journey that can unlock the potential and fortify a person’s will to navigate through the challenges of life. Once you embrace self-discovery, you can embark on an exciting odyssey to successfully achieve your chosen pursuits.