Those of us who embark on a journey of empowerment are driven by a continuous search for knowledge and action.
We are laser focused on realizing the best possible versions of ourselves, both personally, and professionally. We are obsessed with health and fitness, productivity, mindfulness, integrity, personal & professional development, true happiness, and long-lasting fulfillment. Although practicing an empowerment lifestyle is in no way like becoming part of a cult, a religion, or a political party, it is nevertheless an intentional way of being, and a transformational journey of learning, habit formation, and improvement.
The only thing that really matters, is what we decide to do with the present moment (because it?s the only thing we can control). This makes an empowerment lifestyle available to anyone who can understand the concepts and chooses to embrace them. Regardless of background, previous failures and disappointments, economic hardships, or current difficulties, an empowerment lifestyle is available to you. Embracing an empowerment lifestyle is an investment in yourself, a promise to make the world a little better by strengthening your brain and your body first, and adjusting your actions to live the life you intended, which also adds value to the lives of others. It?s a decision to live from the inside-out, one decision, and one step at a time. In a very real way, your very next action will determine the rest of your life and in one way or another, change the world. How will you spend your next now?
Committing to an empowerment lifestyle does not require big steps. All that is needed is one simple movement towards improvement, a commitment to continue growing, and most importantly, a promise to reengage when detours occur.
Living an empowerment lifestyle is not as much about never quitting, as it is about pledging ourselves to getting back up, dusting ourselves off, and continuing the journey. You will not win by focusing on the falls, you win by developing the habit of never staying down.
This lifestyle has become my compass, my roadmap, the only way I want to live. The list below offers a broad introduction and possible entry-points into an empowerment lifestyle, it is not all-inclusive. The order, weight you put on each item, steps and pace are all up to you and will vary throughout your life. Is an empowerment lifestyle right for you?
10 ways that can help you get started.
- Extreme Honesty: Being kind and honest with ourselves and others.
- Ownership & Accountability: Owning our actions, our failures, our wins and our results.
- Continuous Learning: Seeking knowledge through reading, audio books, podcasts, and other tools.
- Nutrition & Exercise: Staying fit & healthy through proper nutrition, strength training, cardio exercises, or other means.
- Eliminating Bad Habits & Creating Good Ones: Avoiding destructive or unhealthy actions and creating positive habits. Focusing on daily routines.
- Focusing on Job/Career/Business: Taking steps to improve one?s job, career, or business.
- Doing Hard Things: Doing something hard and valuable every day.
- Using Time Effectively: Owning our calendar and our time.
- Practicing Real Gratitude: Being grateful about life?s blessings every day. Taking life?s difficulty?s as challenges to navigate instead of tragedies to suffer through.
- Living in the Moment: Being here now, devoting our time, attention and enjoyment to the present.
My empowerment journey began in 2008 following a difficult time in my life, with a decision to get in shape.
One day, I found my way into a gym and quickly realized that a healthy body was the foundation of a healthy mind and a fulfilling life. I started with simple exercises, using weight training magazines as a guide, gradually increasing the intensity as my strength improved. I noticed changes in my body very quickly, and this kept me coming back to the gym. More importantly, I started to feel more focused, surer of myself, and comfortable in my own skin. Not only did I like the way I looked, but I also felt a surge of energy and confidence I did not know was possible.
Gradually, I started to really enjoy this recurring effort and how it made me feel. Before long, I realized I had developed a positive habit that had changed my life forever. From this point on, I always perceived myself as someone who worked out
I have not always been in perfect shape since that time. In fact, a health issue which I failed to address (I had a hernia and delayed having surgery for years) took me off my game. But eventually I got back on track, and I feel great about my fitness progress today. Even when there were periods in my life when I stepped away from the routine, I never changed my perception of who I was. I was someone who worked out.
Eventually, the discipline required for regular workouts spilled over into other aspects of my life. I became more organized, resilient in the face of challenges, knowing I had the ability to honker down, focus and get something done.
There have been many other chapters on my empowerment journey throughout the past 15 years. All of them were critical in their own way. Finding the gym was only an entry point into a better life, into a world I did not know existed. I?m sharing this list, and my own story because living a life of empowerment is the best way I know of guaranteeing a happy life, regardless of what challenges we each have as individuals. Every journey begins with one single step. What will yours be?
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