Women’s Empowerment: You’re Empowered If...

We’ve been blogging for over three years now and we’ve tackled the question of, “What is empowerment?” many times. However, would you truly recognize an empowered woman if you saw one? Odds are you probably wouldn’t; not entirely anyway.

At Soulspring Groups (the meetings, the gatherings and all the events), empowerment is a common topic of conversation. When asked about empowered women, you’re probably as quick as most to list off a slew of names; women you know, women you admire, women you aspire to be. Yet one important person is likely to be left off the list, and that person is YOU.

So we ask you...Would you recognize an empowered woman if you saw one? What behaviors do they exhibit? What traits do they possess? More importantly, are you one?

As the old adage goes, seeing is believing. Are you living empowered?  Check yourself against these ten examples of empowering qualities and behaviors and see just how empowered you really are.

You are empowered if...

• You recognize the fear and do it anyway. Why would we let a little thing like fear hold us back from what we want in life? After all, the key to overcoming our fears is to just stop it!

• You learn something new every day. The world is full of adventure and there’s a lesson around every corner.

• You believe that you have the potential to achieve great things. In the words of the great Dr. Seuss, “Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You."

• You display patience and accept divine timing. We once heard Echkart Tolle, author of such great books as “The Power of Now” and “A New Earth” say, “Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness. How do you know this is the experience you need? Because this is the experience you are having at this moment.”  Well said!

• You welcome each day with enthusiasm and excitement. Each day is a gift after all; is there really any other way to accept something so special?

• You accept challenges as opportunities for strength and character building. Heck, what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, right?

• You squash the negative self-talk and speak only positive and affirming statements. Our positivity is what fuels us and makes us shine! That’s why we offer a new positive affirmation with every visit to the Soulspring Groups’ website!

• You begin your day with a ritual such as quiet journaling, meditation or prayer. Silence, personal reflection and time spent connecting to our Creator, keeps us focused and centered on the bigger picture.

• You believe above all else that you have what it takes. How cruel of a joke to be given a deep desire with no way to achieve it. No, we’ve got everything we need, or at least have access to it, if we stay focused and conscious. While it may not come to us exactly as we envision, our passions will be realized in wonderful ways if we keep the faith and believe.

• You take time for regular personal development and the exploration of important life principles. For a growing number of women, that means being active in their Soulspring Group. If you’re not yet part of this inspiring trend, you’ll want to learn more about joining a Soulspring Group or starting one of your own today.

The Soul Sisters

Soulspiration of the Week:

"By conquering your challenges, taking control of your thoughts, listening to your soul and uniting with others like you, you can bestow your unique gifts and talents unto the world. When your strengths and spirit meet that's when you achieve a level of true empowerment!" ~The Soul Sisters

Who Do You Think You Are?

Who are you? It’s such a simple question, and yet at the same time so complicated. As women we’re influenced by the media, society, mentors, parents, friends and spouses. We conform and adapt to be accepted, promoted, liked, loved, and admired. But peel away the layers of what others want us to be, and who are we then?

Consider the story of the eagle who thought he was a chicken…

A naturalist was visiting a farmer one day and was surprised to see a beautiful eagle in the farmer’s chicken coop. "Why in the world have you got this eagle living in with the chickens?"

"Well,” answered the farmer, “I found him when he was little and raised him in there with the chickens. He doesn’t know any better, he thinks he is a chicken."

The naturalist was dumbfounded. The eagle was pecking the grain and drinking from the watering can. The eagle kept his eyes on the ground and strutted around in circles, looking every inch a big, over-sized chicken. "Doesn’t he ever try to spread his wings and fly out of there?" asked the naturalist.

"No, said the farmer, and I doubt he ever will, he doesn’t know what it means to fly."

The naturalist persuaded the farmer to let him take the eagle out and do a few experiments with him, even though the farmer made it clear he thought the naturalist was wasting his time.

First, the naturalist lifted the bird to the top of the chicken coop fence and said "Fly!" He pushed the reluctant bird off the fence and it fell to the ground in a pile of dusty feathers. Next, the undaunted researcher took the ruffled eagle to the farmer’s hay loft and spread its wings before tossing it high in the air with the command "FLY!" The frightened bird shrieked and fell ungraciously to the barn-yard where it resumed pecking the ground in search of its dinner. The naturalist again picked up the eagle and decided to give it one more chance in a more appropriate environment, away from the bad examples of chicken lifestyle.

He set the docile bird on the front seat of his pickup truck and headed for the highest butte in the country. After a lengthy and sweaty climb to the crest, with the bird tucked under his arm, he spoke gently to the golden bird. "Friend, you were born to soar. It is better that you die here today on the rocks below than live the rest of your life being a chicken in a pen, gawked at and out of your element."

Having said these final words, he lifted the eagle up and once more commanded it to "FLY!" He tossed it out in space and this time, much to his relief, the eagle opened his seven-foot wingspan and flew gracefully into the sky. It slowly climbed in ever higher spirals, riding unseen thermals of hot air until it disappeared into the glare of the morning sun.

So, who do you think you are? Are you living life true to yourself? Or, are you living life based on the perceptions, expectations, beliefs, and/or desires of others? This story is a wonderful parable for how we live life unaware of who we really are, and instead settle for living life based on the lives we see others leading, or worse, what others want us to be.

Thankfully it doesn’t have to take a life-threatening situation like a push off a cliff to make us realize who we are, our true desires, or our calling in life. It just takes awareness and a little detective work, and our upcoming tele-training event is just the thing to get you started! We would love to introduce you to someone truly amazing…The real YOU!

Self-Aware: Discover the Real You

Monday, May 9, 2011 at 7:00 p.m. (CST)

The Soulspring Tele-Classroom*

It’s FREE*! We invite you to be our guest!

*Long distance phone charges apply where applicable.

You will receive your tele-classroom access code and training materials via email prior to the training call.

REGISTER FOR “SELF-AWARE: DISCOVER THE REAL YOU” TODAY!

Kim,

Sister of Soul

Soulspiration of the Week:
“Only by much searching and mining are gold and diamonds obtained, and man can find every truth connected with his being if he will dig deep into the mine of his soul.”  ~James Allen

Don’t Wait for the Next Commercial

I had just gotten home from work. It had been a tense day; everyone coming at me with their requests and nothing was getting accomplished or checked off my own list of to-do’s. I headed to the kitchen to begin preparing supper.  I put a pot of water on to boil and was trying my best to hurry up the process.  I quickly took an inventory of the ingredients I was to need and realized the vegetable was in the freezer downstairs. Not wanting to leave the heating pot unattended I threw the request out within earshot of the two bumps sitting on the couch watching TV. I got a quick response from the male teenage bump, “At the next commercial”. (Now let me just say these two rarely sit comatose in front of the TV for hours on end. However, this day was chilly and damp outside so they were spending their after school unwind time watching ICarly.) Wait for the next commercial, what am I suppose to do with that? What if I need the vegetable before the next commercial comes on?  Ugh!  My pot of water still wasn’t boiling but I can attest that something else was about to boil over.

I mustered up the kindest sounding voice I could and asked the request a second time. To my relief my son dragged himself off the couch to fetch that last supper ingredient. Thank you!

But still I was pondering this idea of waiting for the next commercial, where did they learn it anyway? Who am I kidding….This is certainly not a new phenomenon. Since there has been televisions there have been kids procrastinating on every task imaginable. They wait for a convenient point to break away and do whatever it is that is waiting for them. And, it’s not just kids, as adults we have been known to pull the same trick. Household chores are often broken up into 3 minute chunks of time, perfect for completion during the scheduled commercial interruptions.

Actually, it affects a number of areas in our adult lives as well! How many times do we wait for that convenient place to break away in order to do the things that are waiting for us. You’ve got big things waiting for you; goals, dreams, passions. Don’t just live life commercial to commercial, force yourself to pause the programming a little more often and you’ll be amazed at the things you can accomplish. Turn off the repeats and reruns and a make an all new primetime show…starring YOU!

Jenny,
Sister of Soul

Soulspiration of the Week:
We shall never have more time. We have, and have always had, all the time there is. No object is served in waiting until next week or even until tomorrow. Keep going day in and day out. Concentrate on something useful. Having decided to achieve a task, achieve it at all costs. ~Arnold Bennett.

Choices Suck

It’s great to have a choice, right? I mean, the power of choice is one of our most precious freedoms. It’s what separates us from the rest of the animal kingdom after all. That’s what we tell ourselves anyway.

The reality of the situation…Well, I’m going to venture to say that most people actually hate choices, and avoid making them at every opportunity. Ultimately, it’s the choices we make that put the responsibility in our lives, and our own happiness squarely on our shoulders.

Everything in life is a choice left to us; the job we accept, the spouse we marry, the schedules we keep. But what do we tend to do? We make choices that are not right for us. We choose what society thinks is right, what our husband thinks is right, or what our children think is right. And that’s where it begins…Instead of choice being one of our greatest freedoms it becomes one of our strongest captors.

We blame our circumstances and situations for our problems and hardships because it’s easier if we pretend that we don’t have a choice in the matter. Instead of becoming the hero of our own story we become the victim; full of anger, complaints, resentment, and sadness.

We tell ourselves that for one reason or another, we aren’t able to make the choices that others are able to make. They’re lucky or special and we’re the ones that got stuck with what we got. Somehow we confused making “tough” choices with having “no” choices and as a result we do what’s easy, play it safe, try to make (or keep) others happy, and instead of loving choices…we hate them.

It’s time to exercise your freedom to choose and to learn to love every opportunity you have to make a conscious, honest choice, whether it is difficult or otherwise. It’s the only path to fulfilling your wildest dreams!

So you’ve got a decision to make...You can either read this post, applying the message to your own life, and start making conscious and powerful choices, or you can choose to skim this text and quickly decide that your life is different and this lesson doesn’t apply to you. The choice is yours. Which will it be?

Becky,
Sister of Soul

Soulspiration of the Week:
"Our dilemma is that we hate change and love it at the same time; what we really want is for things to remain the same but get better." ~Sydney J. Harris

Life Purpose: What’s That Got to Do with Goal Setting?

One of the best parts of my Soulspring Groups work is meeting with women in a group coaching setting and leading them through our Passion Processes. Few women actually take the time to do this type of self-reflection on their own, and after a few hours of exercises, interaction and conversation, I’m always amazed by the clarity, light bulb-moments and bits of brilliance that surface amidst the fun and laughter.

Women are so wise when they allow themselves to be. Unfortunately, all the chaos of daily life keeps us pretty busy and distracted. That’s what our Soulspring Groups meetings are all about; giving women one evening a month dedicated to gaining clarity about their own personal dreams, goals, passions and life purpose.

It was at such a gathering, during a “Rapid Fire” exercise, when an important lesson revealed itself. So basic was the message, yet it’s one that is often overlooked. Our question was, “I’ll be living on purpose when…” and the premise of the exercise was to go from woman to woman asking them to fire off the first thing that came to mind. Of course all the answers were wise and great, but one in particular stuck out…

“I’ll be living on purpose when…I do the things I say I will do and don’t agree to the things I know I won’t do.”

Yes, seems pretty common sense, yet within that one statement are a multitude of life lessons. The stress that comes with over-commitment, the integrity issues that accompany our inability to say “no”, but at the core is an even more significant principle for success and happiness.

The happiest and most successful women are masterful goal-setters. They decide what they want, set goals around those desires, create a plan, and then work the plan step by step until victory is achieved. We’ve worked hundreds of women through this very process and have seen many amazing accomplishments as a result. But for every goal achieved, there are many more goals that are not. How could this be?

There is a precursor to this process; one might even call it a secret to goal setting success. The secret is that if the goal you wish to achieve is not in alignment with your purpose, it will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to realize. However, set a goal that is consistent with your purpose, and not only will you achieve it, you will be inundated with help, support and resources, the process of pursuing it will be easy, exciting and fun, and the speed at which you fulfill your dream will be greatly accelerated!

If realizing your dreams and goals have proven to be a challenge for you, perhaps the problem is within your purpose, or rather the lack of clarity around it. How can you get clear?

• Soulspring Groups can help you gain clarity about your dreams, passions and purpose.  Visit our website to learn about joining a Soulspring Group in your area, or starting a Soulspring Group of your own.
• Connecting with like-minded women will lead you in the right direction!  We invite you to stop by our Facebook page and join our growing community of inspiring and empowered women. 
• Remind yourself just how amazing you are! Get your free copy of our newly released e-book “50 Reasons to Believe in You” HERE.

Above all, remember it’s about more than goals and success; it’s about living on purpose.

Kim,
Sister of Soul

Soulspiration of the Week:
“There is one quality which one must possess to win, and that is definiteness of purpose, the knowledge of what one wants, and a burning desire to possess it.” ~Napoleon Hill

The Success Secret the Pros Know: Create a Dream Team

Would you like to exponentially increase your happiness, personal power, fulfillment, results and success?

There’s a little known secret that the most successful among us apply innately, but the majority of the population (especially women), don’t realize. Pros of all kinds, from actors to athletes, take advantage of the principle, while others continue to struggle to achieve their full potential. Once we disclose it, we know it will resonate with you. The concept literally changed our lives.

Here is the secret revealed: By enlisting the assistance of others, you can draw upon the benefits of their experiences, successes, and mistakes, to maximize your own personal growth and development. You can accomplish much more with a team, than you ever will alone.

This is a concept used by every pro athlete, every professional actor, every political figure, and every successful business person. They each have a team consisting of advisors, mentors, allies, and coaches, who they rely upon to help them improve, advance and achieve their goals.

For many women this concept is foreign. Few have utilized a coach or a mentor at all, and if they have, it’s been merely for professional development and career advancement. Yet, if we were to trust our instincts, we would quickly realize that connecting with other women is the key to clarifying our life’s direction. Imagine harnessing what comes so natural to us, to empower ourselves to be, do, and give more!

Envision having a team of advisors available to you when you are faced with a difficult challenge or problem. A group of confidants, supporting you and cheering you on, as you work toward your goals and dreams. Think of how much more you could accomplish, the obstacles you could avoid, and how much further (and faster) you could advance toward your dreams.

Best of all, your own personal “dream team” may be closer than you think! Soulspring Groups makes it easy to assemble your team, providing the instructions, processes and resources your group needs to get on the fast-track to living your best life!

Assemble your team and start a Soulspring Group today! There’s no reason to put off your dreams any longer.

Kim,
Sister of Soul

Soulpiration of the Week:
“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” ~Helen Keller