Steps to Self-Empowerment
Successful Proven Steps to empower yourself and change your life
Success is something that we all want. But what does it mean? How should we go about getting it? Does it mean that by getting it that it is a major deal? Do I have to work very hard? If I do what about my family and friends – do they have to pay for my so-called success? What about my principles in life, the biggest one being balance? How do I maintain balance in life and yet be successful. Is this an impossible task!!!
Success isn’t really that difficult. There is a significant portion of the population in the world that actually wants and need success to be hard! Why? So they have a built-in excuse when things don’t go their way. This is a pretty sad situation, to say the least!
For those of you who are serious about having more, doing more, giving more, wanting more, enjoying more and being more and have balance in life, success is achievable with some understanding of what to do, have some discipline around planning and execution of those plans and a belief that you can achieve your desires.
The first thing we need to understand is, YOU have created where you are right now.
Huh! What do you mean that I have created this “Right now”?
The first thing is to understand how you got to where you are right now. To help you understand, we suggest that you read the “The Subconscious and Belief Systems” article on this website. Then you read the bit on the “Quantum Physics” web page. When you have done that, then you will understand how it is true that you created this for yourself. This is what you have done! Just look and appreciate how powerful you are, to have created all of your life right now – the good and the bad. Now think about it: What if you changed it and also what is possible for you to achieve? How can you achieve this?
The Truth about Success
The first thing to remember about success is that it is a process – nothing more and nothing less. You are supposed to learn the process of success deeply for yourself, so that you can always use the principles you have learnt in any life situation. There is really no magic to it and it’s not reserved for only a selected few. As such, success really has nothing to do with luck, coincidence or fate. It really comes down to understanding the steps in the process and the executing of those steps. It is much like solving a mathematical problem. When you know how to it becomes is easy.
There are basically six key areas to higher achievement. Six is just a magic number for me. Some people will tell you there are four, while others may tell you there are eight. One thing that is for certain though is that irrespective of the number of steps the experts talk about, they all originate from the same roots. Steps are only guidelines - a framework if you like, that you need to learn the process of success for yourself in order to apply it in any situation.
From my perspective then, here are the six key steps:
So let’s expand on these principles a bit more!
Taking the Decision
If success is a process with a number of defined steps, then it is just like any other process. So, what is the first step in any process? Everything around you started as an idea or and inspiration. This is where you start. Then you must take that idea / inspiration and start to think about it. Once you have clarity on this or series of thoughts, you need to give it expression by deciding what you are going to do with this idea. Once you decide then you are ready.
Taking a decision to do something – this is the first step. We all know that nothing moves until someone makes a decision. The first action is always in taking the decision to proceed. This is a fundamental step, which most people overlook.
So then take the decision to move forward. NOW commit your decision to paper, just to bring it into focus. This step is fundamental. By bringing it to paper you are bringing to it the attention of the Universe as formulate it for yourself into something tangible and starting to give expression to it. Now the Universe is beginning to watch you!
Clarity
So now your thoughts are on paper and you have given it expression. But as we all know, if instructions are not clear then things can and do go wrong. Having clarity of purpose and a clear picture of what you desire, is probably the single most important factor in achievement.
Why is Clarity so important? Without clarity, you send a very garbled message out to the Universe. We know that the Law of Attraction says that we will attract what we focus on, so if we don’t have clarity, we will attract confusion. This is also closely tied to the Law of Cause and Effect. If the cause of what you do is not clear and focused, then the effect will be unclear and hazy and downright difficult to follow and/or even difficult for you to see.
Consider the following analogy: You are going on a cruise, but when the ship sets sail, you discover it has no rudder. What now? One of three things will occur:
Trying to go through life without clarity is similar to sailing a rudderless ship. No good thing can or will happen! The sad thing is that the majority of people have no clue about what they truly want. They have no clarity. When asked the question responses will be superficial at best and at worst it will be what someone else wants for them.
So how do we get clarity? Simply by asking ourselves loads of questions: What do I really want? What does success look like to me? Why do I want a particular thing? How will this achievement change my life? How can I use this success to make a difference for others? How can I use the Universal Laws to assist me to bring my ideas into fruition or in achieving my success?
Introspection is the Key! (Read the “Subconscious Mind”, the “Law of Belief Systems” and the “Quantum Physics” and the three parts of you that must be developed namely emotional intelligence, mental perceptional development, and spiritual development, articles on our web pages). Understand what you want, why you want it and what it will do for you. Also understand how to go and do it. These are critical factors and as such are probably the most difficult steps. For this reason, most people never complete this aspect and then wonder why life is so difficult!
Once you have a clear understanding of what you want it is critical that you engage in goal setting by specifically setting SMART goals.
SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time Sensitive. Knowing what you want and by setting SMART goals as mileposts on your quest, give you immense clarity!
Your mission helps a lot with clearing your vision. Focus on how you are going to carry out your vision. Try and bring it into the practical world – your every day life. Keep it simple. Writing out your mission often helps to clarify your thoughts.
Focus
Focus is having the unwavering attention to complete what you set out to do. There are a million distractions in every facet of your life. Telephones, e-mails, clients and managers, spouses and kids, TV, newspapers and radio – the distractions are everywhere and they are endless. Sometimes we feel that we need to be in the know and then follow up on all these distractions and coupled with this is the fact that everyone appears to want a piece of us. The result of this can be totally overwhelming.
So, how can we stay on course with all the distractions in our lives? Willpower is a good place to start, but it’s very difficult to stay on track simply through willpower. The best way is to develop and follow a plan. Start with your goals in mind and then work backwards to develop your plan. Remember to take time out for yourself also! What are the required steps to take to achieve your goals? A helpful way is to work from the last goal in mind backwards by asking yourself: what is the step before this stage that I would have to do, to make it possible. Then ask what would be the step before that to make it possible, and then ask again … and so on until you end up where you are at the present moment. You now ready for action!
Remember to make your plan as detailed as possible. Try to visualize it and where possible plan for every possible setback. Commit the plan to paper and then keep it with you at all times. Review it regularly and ensure that every step takes you closer to your vision and goal. By you doing this, you energetically start to set up the motion of flow in place with the Universe’s support. If the plan doesn’t support the vision as you designed it, then change it!
Along with your plans you should consider developing an action orientation that will keep you motivated to move forward at all times. This requires a little self-discipline but it is a crucial component to achievement of any kind. Before starting any new activity ask yourself if that activity will move you closer to your goals. If the answer is no, you should reconsider taking on the new activity at this time.
I coach my clients to practice the 3 D’s – Defer, Delegate, or Delete. Can that particular activity be done later? If not, then Defer it! Can someone else do it? If yes, then Delegate it! Does it need to be done at all? If not, consider Deleting it! Posing these questions will assist you to keep focused on what is truly important! Remember the Universal Laws namely: the Law of Cause and Effect and the Law of Attraction – they really work! Use them.
Commitment
Commitment is something that comes from understanding that everything has its price and then having the willingness to pay that price. This is important as nobody wants to put significant effort into something, only to find out after the fact, that the price was too high. I don’t really like to talk of “price” due to its negative connotations it has to it. Let us rather talk in terms of energy for all things are just energy. Don’t waste energy or push against it. Rather use it as support, as it was designed to be this and use the Universal Laws constructively. That is what they are there and the Universe supports good, wholesome, balanced work.
Negative or blocked energy is something that is not necessarily defined as financial - it could be time, effort, sacrifice, money or anything else. The point is that we must be fully aware of the Cause and Effect and be willing to work with it if we want to have success.
Belief Systems
This is perhaps the single biggest obstacle that all of us must overcome in order to be successful. You are your biggest obstacle to your own success. Your deeply held internal belief systems will pave the way for you and when you hang onto them in your subconscious, they will manifest for you just like they have done up until now. That is the Law of the Universe.
Belief systems often run the show of your life and if you are not sure what they are or how they work in your life, we suggest you find someone who can help you to clear them for you and to facilitate new belief systems for you. Do not practice the art of denial here - if you were a roaring success you would not be working / reading this now. Please sort it out. The cost could be the very success that you seek.
We all carry a lot of baggage thanks to our upbringing and life circumstances. The majority of us carry an entire series of self-limiting beliefs that will absolutely stop and hold us back from success. Things like “I’m not good enough”, “I’m not smart enough”, “I’m not lucky enough” and the worst one “I’m not worthy”, are but a few of the self-limiting beliefs we have encountered. We all carry them with us like rocks in a knapsack and then use them to sabotage our own success. How twisted is that!
The old expression is absolutely true: whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right! The Quantum Physics world and the Universal Laws will ensure that. We have seen plenty of these playing themselves out! One of the main areas that we work on with our clients is shedding these non-supportive beliefs and replacing them with beliefs that will help them to accomplish their dreams and desires.
It is truly amazing the damage that we, as parents, can inflict upon our children. So why do we do this? For the most part we never do it intentionally or with malice. In the majority of cases the cause is well meaning, but messages of an unskilled or un-thinking parent, who says the “wrong” thing at the “wrong” time, unfortunately sticks with the child in one way or another. It is as simple as that! It is also not just parents that are the cause - teachers, friends, clergy members or anyone else that has influence in a child's life can be a contributor to these self-limiting beliefs!
The bottom line is that we all must shed the negative ones and replace them with positive beliefs.
Taking Action
“Nothing changes until something moves” – this is the battle cry of author and journalist Robert Ringer. And he is absolutely correct! Not all of the decision-making, clarity, planning, focus and belief in the world, will get you to where you want to be without taking action! The Universe supports action. Having the best sand castle is nothing other than just that – a sand castle!
If you struggle with the action side then there is a block / a belief system that needs resolving. Go and get it sorted out. Everything can be sorted out in some way.
Action – putting your plans into play – that is what will get you to the destination. Don’t get caught in the paralysis of analysis or in the conundrum of Ready, Aim, Aim, Aim, Aim… The Fire must happen!
Get the oars in the water and start rowing! Execution is the single biggest factor in achievement, so the faster and better your execution, the quicker you will achieve the goals!
Conclusion
So, there you have it! The six steps that will help you to the fabled land of achievement and success! You now have the opportunity to push ahead and reach your potential. No more excuses! Make the commitment to TAKE ACTION TODAY!
Figure out what you want, put a plan together to achieve it. Understand the negative as well as the positive use of energy! Then use it positively as it is there for your use. Believe in yourself, then go and do it! This is in line with Sir Richard Branson book - “Screw it let’s do it anyway!!”
Tip
Here is an excellent and worthwhile tip. You have now read a lot on manifestation of what you want and you understand the Universal Laws, Quantum Physics and the “Energetics of the Subconscious” and you have done your homework on yourself!
Now, before you tackle the big things in your life, we suggest that you put into practice the small things and see how your manifestation works with them. The more you practice, the better it becomes. The more you see it work, the better you will feel and the more you believe it! Now you are ready to tackle something bigger. When that works, go bigger and when that works go even bigger still. Soon you will see that it is just down right marvelous how you can co-create with the Universe and then you too will say: “Gee the Universe is just simply marvelous” isn’t it!
Success is something that we all want. But what does it mean? How should we go about getting it? Does it mean that by getting it that it is a major deal? Do I have to work very hard? If I do what about my family and friends – do they have to pay for my so-called success? What about my principles in life, the biggest one being balance? How do I maintain balance in life and yet be successful. Is this an impossible task!!!
- Fact: Success is something that we all want more of.
- Fact: Most people believe that success is difficult.
- Fact: They’re wrong - it’s not!
Success isn’t really that difficult. There is a significant portion of the population in the world that actually wants and need success to be hard! Why? So they have a built-in excuse when things don’t go their way. This is a pretty sad situation, to say the least!
For those of you who are serious about having more, doing more, giving more, wanting more, enjoying more and being more and have balance in life, success is achievable with some understanding of what to do, have some discipline around planning and execution of those plans and a belief that you can achieve your desires.
The first thing we need to understand is, YOU have created where you are right now.
Huh! What do you mean that I have created this “Right now”?
The first thing is to understand how you got to where you are right now. To help you understand, we suggest that you read the “The Subconscious and Belief Systems” article on this website. Then you read the bit on the “Quantum Physics” web page. When you have done that, then you will understand how it is true that you created this for yourself. This is what you have done! Just look and appreciate how powerful you are, to have created all of your life right now – the good and the bad. Now think about it: What if you changed it and also what is possible for you to achieve? How can you achieve this?
The Truth about Success
The first thing to remember about success is that it is a process – nothing more and nothing less. You are supposed to learn the process of success deeply for yourself, so that you can always use the principles you have learnt in any life situation. There is really no magic to it and it’s not reserved for only a selected few. As such, success really has nothing to do with luck, coincidence or fate. It really comes down to understanding the steps in the process and the executing of those steps. It is much like solving a mathematical problem. When you know how to it becomes is easy.
There are basically six key areas to higher achievement. Six is just a magic number for me. Some people will tell you there are four, while others may tell you there are eight. One thing that is for certain though is that irrespective of the number of steps the experts talk about, they all originate from the same roots. Steps are only guidelines - a framework if you like, that you need to learn the process of success for yourself in order to apply it in any situation.
From my perspective then, here are the six key steps:
- Taking the decision as nothing can ever happen without the first thought. That thought of course could also be an inspiration. But it must not just remain just a thought. It is for you to turn that thought into a decision.
- Clarity in developing your Vision – where is it that you want to go with this decision? Then you develop your Mission from your Vision - how do I want to carry out my decision?
- Focus – having a practical and simple plan
- Commitment – understanding the price and having the willingness to pay that price
- Belief – believing in yourself and those around you. Please read the articles I spoke of above as they are of immense value in contributing to your understanding.
- Taking action – practice Ready, Aim, Fire! The world around you will only respond to you when YOU take action. By taking action you are displaying to the Universe that you are serious and that there are no hidden or secret beliefs inside of you, trying to block or sabotage you in some way.
So let’s expand on these principles a bit more!
Taking the Decision
If success is a process with a number of defined steps, then it is just like any other process. So, what is the first step in any process? Everything around you started as an idea or and inspiration. This is where you start. Then you must take that idea / inspiration and start to think about it. Once you have clarity on this or series of thoughts, you need to give it expression by deciding what you are going to do with this idea. Once you decide then you are ready.
Taking a decision to do something – this is the first step. We all know that nothing moves until someone makes a decision. The first action is always in taking the decision to proceed. This is a fundamental step, which most people overlook.
So then take the decision to move forward. NOW commit your decision to paper, just to bring it into focus. This step is fundamental. By bringing it to paper you are bringing to it the attention of the Universe as formulate it for yourself into something tangible and starting to give expression to it. Now the Universe is beginning to watch you!
Clarity
So now your thoughts are on paper and you have given it expression. But as we all know, if instructions are not clear then things can and do go wrong. Having clarity of purpose and a clear picture of what you desire, is probably the single most important factor in achievement.
Why is Clarity so important? Without clarity, you send a very garbled message out to the Universe. We know that the Law of Attraction says that we will attract what we focus on, so if we don’t have clarity, we will attract confusion. This is also closely tied to the Law of Cause and Effect. If the cause of what you do is not clear and focused, then the effect will be unclear and hazy and downright difficult to follow and/or even difficult for you to see.
Consider the following analogy: You are going on a cruise, but when the ship sets sail, you discover it has no rudder. What now? One of three things will occur:
- You will sail along until you collide with an immovable object, after which you will sink to the bottom (the Law of Attraction)
- You will run aground and become hopelessly stuck in the mud (Law of Cause and Effect)
- You will drift aimlessly until you arrive at Mr Nowhere (Law of attraction based on your Belief Systems)
Trying to go through life without clarity is similar to sailing a rudderless ship. No good thing can or will happen! The sad thing is that the majority of people have no clue about what they truly want. They have no clarity. When asked the question responses will be superficial at best and at worst it will be what someone else wants for them.
So how do we get clarity? Simply by asking ourselves loads of questions: What do I really want? What does success look like to me? Why do I want a particular thing? How will this achievement change my life? How can I use this success to make a difference for others? How can I use the Universal Laws to assist me to bring my ideas into fruition or in achieving my success?
Introspection is the Key! (Read the “Subconscious Mind”, the “Law of Belief Systems” and the “Quantum Physics” and the three parts of you that must be developed namely emotional intelligence, mental perceptional development, and spiritual development, articles on our web pages). Understand what you want, why you want it and what it will do for you. Also understand how to go and do it. These are critical factors and as such are probably the most difficult steps. For this reason, most people never complete this aspect and then wonder why life is so difficult!
Once you have a clear understanding of what you want it is critical that you engage in goal setting by specifically setting SMART goals.
SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time Sensitive. Knowing what you want and by setting SMART goals as mileposts on your quest, give you immense clarity!
Your mission helps a lot with clearing your vision. Focus on how you are going to carry out your vision. Try and bring it into the practical world – your every day life. Keep it simple. Writing out your mission often helps to clarify your thoughts.
Focus
Focus is having the unwavering attention to complete what you set out to do. There are a million distractions in every facet of your life. Telephones, e-mails, clients and managers, spouses and kids, TV, newspapers and radio – the distractions are everywhere and they are endless. Sometimes we feel that we need to be in the know and then follow up on all these distractions and coupled with this is the fact that everyone appears to want a piece of us. The result of this can be totally overwhelming.
So, how can we stay on course with all the distractions in our lives? Willpower is a good place to start, but it’s very difficult to stay on track simply through willpower. The best way is to develop and follow a plan. Start with your goals in mind and then work backwards to develop your plan. Remember to take time out for yourself also! What are the required steps to take to achieve your goals? A helpful way is to work from the last goal in mind backwards by asking yourself: what is the step before this stage that I would have to do, to make it possible. Then ask what would be the step before that to make it possible, and then ask again … and so on until you end up where you are at the present moment. You now ready for action!
Remember to make your plan as detailed as possible. Try to visualize it and where possible plan for every possible setback. Commit the plan to paper and then keep it with you at all times. Review it regularly and ensure that every step takes you closer to your vision and goal. By you doing this, you energetically start to set up the motion of flow in place with the Universe’s support. If the plan doesn’t support the vision as you designed it, then change it!
Along with your plans you should consider developing an action orientation that will keep you motivated to move forward at all times. This requires a little self-discipline but it is a crucial component to achievement of any kind. Before starting any new activity ask yourself if that activity will move you closer to your goals. If the answer is no, you should reconsider taking on the new activity at this time.
I coach my clients to practice the 3 D’s – Defer, Delegate, or Delete. Can that particular activity be done later? If not, then Defer it! Can someone else do it? If yes, then Delegate it! Does it need to be done at all? If not, consider Deleting it! Posing these questions will assist you to keep focused on what is truly important! Remember the Universal Laws namely: the Law of Cause and Effect and the Law of Attraction – they really work! Use them.
Commitment
Commitment is something that comes from understanding that everything has its price and then having the willingness to pay that price. This is important as nobody wants to put significant effort into something, only to find out after the fact, that the price was too high. I don’t really like to talk of “price” due to its negative connotations it has to it. Let us rather talk in terms of energy for all things are just energy. Don’t waste energy or push against it. Rather use it as support, as it was designed to be this and use the Universal Laws constructively. That is what they are there and the Universe supports good, wholesome, balanced work.
Negative or blocked energy is something that is not necessarily defined as financial - it could be time, effort, sacrifice, money or anything else. The point is that we must be fully aware of the Cause and Effect and be willing to work with it if we want to have success.
Belief Systems
This is perhaps the single biggest obstacle that all of us must overcome in order to be successful. You are your biggest obstacle to your own success. Your deeply held internal belief systems will pave the way for you and when you hang onto them in your subconscious, they will manifest for you just like they have done up until now. That is the Law of the Universe.
Belief systems often run the show of your life and if you are not sure what they are or how they work in your life, we suggest you find someone who can help you to clear them for you and to facilitate new belief systems for you. Do not practice the art of denial here - if you were a roaring success you would not be working / reading this now. Please sort it out. The cost could be the very success that you seek.
We all carry a lot of baggage thanks to our upbringing and life circumstances. The majority of us carry an entire series of self-limiting beliefs that will absolutely stop and hold us back from success. Things like “I’m not good enough”, “I’m not smart enough”, “I’m not lucky enough” and the worst one “I’m not worthy”, are but a few of the self-limiting beliefs we have encountered. We all carry them with us like rocks in a knapsack and then use them to sabotage our own success. How twisted is that!
The old expression is absolutely true: whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right! The Quantum Physics world and the Universal Laws will ensure that. We have seen plenty of these playing themselves out! One of the main areas that we work on with our clients is shedding these non-supportive beliefs and replacing them with beliefs that will help them to accomplish their dreams and desires.
It is truly amazing the damage that we, as parents, can inflict upon our children. So why do we do this? For the most part we never do it intentionally or with malice. In the majority of cases the cause is well meaning, but messages of an unskilled or un-thinking parent, who says the “wrong” thing at the “wrong” time, unfortunately sticks with the child in one way or another. It is as simple as that! It is also not just parents that are the cause - teachers, friends, clergy members or anyone else that has influence in a child's life can be a contributor to these self-limiting beliefs!
The bottom line is that we all must shed the negative ones and replace them with positive beliefs.
Taking Action
“Nothing changes until something moves” – this is the battle cry of author and journalist Robert Ringer. And he is absolutely correct! Not all of the decision-making, clarity, planning, focus and belief in the world, will get you to where you want to be without taking action! The Universe supports action. Having the best sand castle is nothing other than just that – a sand castle!
If you struggle with the action side then there is a block / a belief system that needs resolving. Go and get it sorted out. Everything can be sorted out in some way.
Action – putting your plans into play – that is what will get you to the destination. Don’t get caught in the paralysis of analysis or in the conundrum of Ready, Aim, Aim, Aim, Aim… The Fire must happen!
Get the oars in the water and start rowing! Execution is the single biggest factor in achievement, so the faster and better your execution, the quicker you will achieve the goals!
Conclusion
So, there you have it! The six steps that will help you to the fabled land of achievement and success! You now have the opportunity to push ahead and reach your potential. No more excuses! Make the commitment to TAKE ACTION TODAY!
Figure out what you want, put a plan together to achieve it. Understand the negative as well as the positive use of energy! Then use it positively as it is there for your use. Believe in yourself, then go and do it! This is in line with Sir Richard Branson book - “Screw it let’s do it anyway!!”
Tip
Here is an excellent and worthwhile tip. You have now read a lot on manifestation of what you want and you understand the Universal Laws, Quantum Physics and the “Energetics of the Subconscious” and you have done your homework on yourself!
Now, before you tackle the big things in your life, we suggest that you put into practice the small things and see how your manifestation works with them. The more you practice, the better it becomes. The more you see it work, the better you will feel and the more you believe it! Now you are ready to tackle something bigger. When that works, go bigger and when that works go even bigger still. Soon you will see that it is just down right marvelous how you can co-create with the Universe and then you too will say: “Gee the Universe is just simply marvelous” isn’t it!
