Nothing is more potent than consciously seeking ways to continuously empower yourself. When I first set out to build my business and the life of my dreams, I forgot one important ingredient: To care for, nurture and love myself first and foremost.
I started to see some big success in year three of my business, but I couldn’t wrap my head around why I was feeling miserable and lost. After months of dissecting the situation, it was easy to see that I was so focused on building the life and business of my dreams while completely neglecting my own mental, physical and spiritual health.
That is something that you never want to happen, because once you lose a sense of fulfillment and empowerment, everything you do will start to feel as if you are just going through the motions and coasting along. It’s a surefire recipe to become miserable and live beneath your full potential.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for hustling and working harder and smarter than everyone else. That was the blueprint for how I was able to overcome a teenage drug addiction that nearly killed me and then have the opportunity to go on to play in the National Football League. But you must never forget to care for and consistently empower yourself.
Two Ways to Empower Yourself
Here are two ways to empower yourself immediately that will ultimately help your business and personal success as well.
1. Discover the Incredible Power of Stillness
This one was a life-changer for me. My whole life leading up to discovering the incredible power of stillness was predicated on moving fast, quickly and constantly. It still is to an extent, but my biggest issue back then was never taking the time to just slow down and be still for even a couple minutes a day.
When I refer to stillness, I am referring to a number of different things: mediation, prayer, thinking in solitude, journaling in the presence of beautiful Mother Nature, and just slowing down somehow every day.
We live in a busy world, and it’s imperative to find time daily to escape the noise and get in tune with yourself. Maybe you have another way of escaping the noise. Whatever that may be for you, I encourage you to make time for it every day.
When I started to adopt some of the practices that I mentioned, my peace of mind alone was instantly and drastically noticeable. Practicing stillness and searching for solitude throughout my day has changed not only my success in the game of business but, most importantly, in my health and overall well-being.
2. Empower Yourself by Loving Yourself
I have written so much and speak all the time on the topic of how important it is to love your customers, team members, and the process of getting from where you are to where you want to go, but I haven’t spent as much time on a major factor in being able to do all of the above exceptionally well: To love yourself.
Loving yourself consists of taking time for yourself. Loving yourself means taking time off if you feel the rate at which you are going is unhealthy. Loving yourself means never neglecting your well-being, values, and characteristics that define who you are as a person for monetary gain or professional advancement. Loving yourself gives you power over your life and helps to empower yourself.
One of the major reasons why so many successful men and women lose the empowerment in their lives that once ignited them is their lack of love and nourishment towards themselves. Continue to work ridiculously hard and become the absolute best at what you do, but don’t forget to love yourself along the way and devote the time to regularly empower yourself. No one can love you and empower yourself to the extent that you can.
It’s easy to forget about yourself when you are striving to achieve the audacious goals that you have for your life and business, but discovering the incredible power of stillness and loving yourself are two practical and easy ways to empower yourself on a consistent basis.
Originally Posted on Entrepreneur.com