The first step to empowerment is for us women to empower ourselves instead of waiting on the wings for someone to empower us. Remember we do not have to pull each either down to make it. There is no need to be distributing the Judas kiss to your friends just to secure yourself as the top dog.

Be confident

The first step is to believe in yourself. If you cannot trust yourself then why should we. Once you believe in yourself confidence will follow easily. Confidence is empowering for everyone. Women need to stop constantly questioning themselves and be confident in their decisions.

Learn a new skill

Learning a new skill becomes harder the older we get but know that it will make you feel better about yourself. It might be joining a karate class or learning a new language but it is something to separate from the majority and help you fight the stereotypes. As an added bonus you never know when it might be handy to know Italian or be able to karate chop  a person to their knees.

Set boundaries.

As a woman trying to empower herself you need to set boundaries. People should know that you have lines that must never be crossed. Everyone can take a joke but it is a strong woman who can set boundaries and stick to them. Being a people pleaser will not help you on your way to being an empowered woman.

Embrace yourself

Self-acceptance is the key to empowerment; it does not matter whether you are old, young, thin or fat embrace yourself. Own your identity and make it a part of your charm. People will accept you warts and all if you first of all accept your own warts. It is when we try to hide our insecurities that we bring even more focus on them. An empowered woman loves herself just the way she is.

These tips will help you from being a follower into being a leader. As women grow into leaders and head various organisations they can still put in place changes to support other women.

I believe organisations still have a long way to go in promoting women empowerment. Organisations need to promote women from their grass roots by organising scholarships and programs which will not just benefit women at employment level but girls who are still at school. For example in Zimbabwe there is an existing program which promotes girls who study science subjects to get a chance to proceed and complete their  A'Levels. This programme has led to an increase in the number of girls who study engineering at tertiary level. Girls should be given leadership positions in local projects so that as they grow there are taught how to be leaders.

Organisations which support women development should organise a world wide campaign which shows women n positions of power so that the little girls playing on the street instead of playing happy families play games about board rooms with women as the bosses.  I believe this way girls as they grow into women will start to appreciate that they have more to offer organisations than just being assistants.

Originally published Here