CONQUERing Collaboration: Lessons in Empowerment

Empowerment and CONQUERing go hand-in-hand. Tammy, our founder and CEO, has a personal goal to help 3 million people feel empowered in her lifetime. CONQUERing was founded as a way to help her achieve that goal. 

All of our designs, activations, and content have underlying themes of empowerment. Whether it be explicit messages of "You Got This" or information on taking care of yourself, our goal is always to make sure the person wearing CONQUERing fidget jewelry feels empowered. 

We thought it was about time that we wrote a dedicated post about empowerment. We will explore the following questions: 

• What do we mean by empowerment?
• How do you regain a sense of control?
• How do you empower someone?
• How do you empower yourself?

This is also our third CONQUERing collaboration! We asked our Facebook group how they empower themselves and will be sharing their stories in this post. 

What Do We Mean By Empowerment?

In the literal sense, empowerment is the process of gaining freedom and power to do what you want or to control what happens to you. It is an incredibly powerful feeling—it can be the catalyst for turning your life around and making big decisions for the betterment of your life. 

It's all about control. When you don't feel like you're in charge of your life, you likely aren't going to feel very empowered. You might be more susceptible to being taken advantage of, you might feel a lack of self-esteem, or low confidence that hinders you from going after what you want. 

When it comes to empowerment, you need to start with regaining a sense of control. 

How to Regain a Sense of Control

We recognize that it's easier said than done to regain control of your life. When you start to take the steps of taking your life back, it's important to be kind to yourself. Recognize that you might experience setbacks and the process doesn't happen over night. 

We put together five tips that we believe can effectively help you regain a sense of control: 

1. Feel what you feel. Be honest with yourself and how you're feeling. If you're disappointed or jealous, don't pretend that you're not feeling those feelings. Being comfortable with feeling uncomfortable and accepting that emotions are part of life can be a huge step to regaining control of your life. In any given moment, even if the feelings are unpleasant, let yourself fully feel them. 
2. Focus on what you can control. Lack of control can come from focusing on everything in your life that you can't control. Try to reframe your mindset so you focus on what you can control. Make a list of things in your daily life that you have control over. For example, you can control what clothes you decide to wear, what you decide to eat for meals, what music you listen to, and how you react to different situations. When you start to notice that you're thinking of everything you can't control, return to that list and expand it to include more things you have control over. 
3. Check in with yourself. As silly as it sounds, checking in with yourself and knowing what triggers you is integral to regaining a sense of control. when you find yourself stressed and anxious, take a step back and think of what's causing that. Is it the environment you're in? The people you're around? Take note of these triggers and do your best to avoid them. If you can't avoid them, prepare yourself and come up with coping mechanisms to help you through them. 
4. Be okay with a lack of control. At the end of the day, we can't control every aspect of every day. Learning to be okay with a lack of control can make it seem less scary. Think of the worst thing that can happen when you don't have control. Come up with a plan for getting out of situations that make you feel out of control. 
5. Establish self care strategies. Make it a priority to take care of yourself. Feeling drained can affect how in control of your life you feel. Purposefully add moments in your day to recharge your mind and body. Make sure you're getting enough sleep, drinking enough water, and fueling your body with energy. 

There are plenty of other strategies you can implement to regain a sense of control. Once you feel in control, the path to empowerment will naturally follow. Once you feel empowered, you can then go on to help others feel empowered. 

How Do You Empower Someone?

Once you start to feel empowered, don't stop there! Helping others feel empowered can further strengthen the sentiment in yourself. Check out these five strategies we recommend for making someone else feel empowered: 

1. Share your own story. Be honest and transparent with your own journey to empowerment. Talk about what you went through, what made you decide to take back your life, and any obstacles or hardships you might have experience on your journey. Talk about what makes you feel empowered. 
2. Show others their potential. Sometimes, we need other people to point out the potential they see in us. Make an effort to focus on what others are capable of. Give them encouragement and continuously point out their strengths. 
3. Shower them with support. When you're helping someone regain control of their own life, make sure you're giving them support as they embark on that journey. Remind them that they can feel empowered and they are so close to taking back their life. 
4. Uplift others. Make it a goal to uplift others. Give out compliments to strangers on the street. Foster positive environments anywhere you go. Be intentional about showing kindness to others. 
5. Actively listen. Listen to the obstacles and setbacks that the person you're helping is going through. Let hem vent their feelings and lay everything on the table. Listen without judgment and encourage them to lead the conversation. 

While you're helping others, make sure you're checking in with yourself as well. You don't want to take on too much or expend too much mental energy that you are left feeling drained. 

How Do I Empower Myself?

While we would be happy to share more lists with tips and strategies on how to empower yourself, we thought it would be more impactful to hear the stories from our CONQUERing community on how they empower themselves. 

We asked our Facebook group to share what makes them feel empowered. Their answers and stories inspired us, and we think they'll inspire you as well. 

Two of our community members shared their experiences of taking back their lives in their mid-40s. Sacha S. said at the age of 46, she's living on her own for the first time and isn't dependent on anyone else. Kelly K. said that at the age of 44, she went through semi truck driving school and is now the only woman on her truck driving shift! 

A few of our members focused on their mindsets. Alexis S. and Tara F. talked about how the fear of failure simply doesn't exist to them. They don't see things as out of the realm of possibility and they go for what they want. Jenny D. said that positive thinking and taking risks is what makes her feel empowered. 

Jaymie L. shared her story of sobriety and how that journey has helped her regain control. She makes better life choices now and feels empowered by the new realm of possibilities her life could take. 

Finally, we wanted to share a final quote from one of our members about what makes her feel empowered: 

"Lately? Pullin' out the red lipstick and knowing I have the inner confidence to rock it."—Diane V. 

Take Back Your Life and Feel Empowered

Your stories are so inspiring to us. It makes us empowered to continue making our fidget jewelry and growing the CONQUERing community. 

Take this as a sign to regain control. Start your journey towards feeling empowered. If you're already there, start empowering those around you!