Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

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1 By Andromeda

2 In this big world, it's easy to see your life as being insignificant. However, every single thing that you do impacts something else. Every word you say and action that you take has some sort of consequence to yourself and someone else. Your energy has the power to affect the energy around you. So you see, you are far from small. You are powerful. Lifelong self-evaluation is necessary to become your best possible self and reach your full potential. Never stop learning, growing, and exuding positive energy. An empowered woman doesn't dwell on problems, she looks for the lessons and solutions, finds the positive in all situations, and chooses to grow from every experience. Andromeda Raheem Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

3 LESSON 1: GET REAL WITH YOURSELF The foundation for becoming an empowered woman is determining who you are and who you want to be. When I say, who you are, I do not mean your name, address, date of birth, and job title. I do not mean who you portray yourself to be or who others perceive you to be. I mean, who are you behind the scenes? Who are you based on your private thoughts and unexpressed feelings? The first step to becoming empowered is getting real with yourself. You must look deep inside of yourself and ask yourself the following questions. What makes you happy? What makes you sad? What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? What do you like about yourself? What do you dislike about yourself? What emotions are you comfortable sharing? What emotions do you hide? When do you feel powerful? When do you feel powerless? What makes you feel insecure? What makes you feel jealous? What makes you feel worthy? What makes you feel worthless? What do people do that bothers you? Why does it bother you? Who has control over your attitude? Why do they have control over your attitude? What do you do that s beneficial to you? What do you do that hurts you more than helps you? What do you want out of life? What is your life lacking? ASSIGNMENT: Use today to think about who you are and where you are in your life. In the following spaces, write down a detailed description of your current self and situation. Be sure to include the good, the bad, and the ugly. Being able to identify your weaknesses and improve upon them makes you strong. Being able to embrace your strengths makes you powerful. Once you have determined who you are and where you are, think about the woman you aim to be. Write down a description of that woman also. Include the way she looks, how she feels, what she does, what her friends are like, what her romantic relationship is like, where she lives, what she does for a living, etc. Compare both descriptions to determine what behaviors you may need to change and actions you will need to take to become the woman you want to be and live the life you want to live. Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

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6 LESSON 2: LET GO OF THE PAST In Lesson 1, you should have dug deep and reflected on your life and the woman you are today. You should have also thought about and wrote down the characteristics of the woman you aim to be moving forward. To move forward into becoming the woman you aim to be, you must let go of anything in your past that is holding you back. This can be people, habits, regrets, or emotions that are hurting you more than helping you. You must understand that although the past is a part of your story, it is not your whole story. We all have things in our past that we aren't proud of or wish that we could change, but the truth is that everything that occurred in your past taught you valuable lessons to take with you as you continue along your journey. When I say your past, I don't just mean 5 or 10 years ago, I mean up until 5 or 10 minutes ago. Every moment that you are living is an opportunity to learn, grow, and right your wrongs. Do not dwell on mistakes of the past. Do not beat yourself up for doing something you wish that you hadn't or for not doing something that you wish you had. You cannot rewind your life or go back in time. Every moment spent in regret is a moment that could have been used to progress. Your time is valuable. Don't waste it on things that you cannot change. Instead, use your time to improve yourself and learn from your mistakes so that you are not doomed to repeat them. Apologize to others when your mistakes affect them. Apologize to yourself when your mistakes affect you and make every effort to not allow yourself to make the same mistakes again. Let go of anger, resentment, grudges, stubbornness, and regrets. The only way that your past can define you is if you let it. If you are carrying along resentment from a past relationship, a grudge from a betrayal, or anger from someone doing you wrong, let it go and now! You're not holding a grudge; the grudge is holding you. It is impossible to progress in positivity if you are walking around with negative feelings. Those kinds of feelings cloud your judgement and affect your interactions with every person you encounter. You might say that this is easier said than done, but my question to you would be, "Do you value your life?" You must love yourself beyond anything that is holding you back from becoming the best woman that you can be. You are in control of your emotions. You control what you allow to bother you and what you allow to hold you back. Find the strength and power within you to break the chains of any negative emotions that are consuming your life. Make up your mind that your happiness and success are Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

7 worth more than that person who hurt you or that situation that upset you. Rise above it. When you "rise above" something, you recognize that it is beneath you and that you deserve better than to allow it to bring you down or hold you down. Your past is not who you are, but what you have been through. At any moment in time, you can decide to change your direction and rewrite the way your story ends. Do not allow anyone to label you as the person you were. The beauty of life is that every day is a new day and an opportunity for a fresh start. There are people who knew you yesterday that may not know you today because when you went to sleep last night, you decided that you were done making bad decisions, quitting your bad habits, and over being powerless. As you continue progressing along your journey, people will notice that you've changed. Some will applaud you and some will try to remind you of all the things that you used to do and the person you used to be to deter you from moving forward. Understand that some people won't want you to grow because they aren't ready to grow. For some, the positive changes that you are making will make them feel uncomfortable because they are not ready to change their negative ways. No matter what, keep moving forward. There's a bigger picture and a better destination ahead. You will outgrow some people in the process of growing and even when it hurts, never forget why you are doing it. No person in this world matters more to you than you. You can't be a friend to someone if you're not a friend to yourself. You can't love someone if you don't love yourself. You can't care for someone if you don't take care of yourself. Be okay with saying "no" to anything that won't help you grow and don't be afraid to try new things that will assist in your growth. Remember, on your journey to improving yourself and becoming the best woman that you can be, those that mind don't matter and those that matter won't mind. ASSIGNMENT: In the following spaces, write down any negative emotions that you are carrying from the past. Write down any regrets and/or past mistakes that you have been holding onto. Write down all the things in your past that you wish that you could change. Write it down and let it go. Let this be the last time that you think of and dwell over things that you cannot change. Decide today, that you will use your past to make you better, not bitter. Write "TODAY, I START FRESH. TODAY IS THE DAY THAT I TAKE POWER OVER MY PRESENT AND FUTURE. TODAY IS THE BEGINNING OF A NEW CHAPTER IN MY STORY AND I WILL MAKE IT BEAUTIFUL." Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

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10 LESSON 3: FIND POWER IN YOUR TESTIMONY "There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside of you." Maya Angelou Are you aware that whatever your story is, there is someone else in this world who has been or is going through the exact same thing and can completely relate to you and understand you? You are not alone. Far too often do women hold so many things that they experience inside for fear of judgment or because they feel ashamed. This type of behavior contributes to allowing your past to define you. It's time to take power over your story and understand that what you experienced is something that happened to you, but not who you are. You know that you are completely over something and have control over it instead of it having control over you when you can talk open and honestly about it. There is something so liberating about being able to say, "This is what I went through, but I overcame it. Look at me now!" There is someone out there that would find hope in hearing your story. You have the power and ability to be someone else's light at the end of their tunnel. Once you open the door to freeing yourself of all that you have been carrying, you will find that you will not only feel relieved, but will also begin to allow yourself to attract people who can relate to you and who will support you for your courage. I know that this probably sounds like something that's easier said than done, but trust me, it beats the alternative of spending the rest of your life holding in and onto to something that you cannot change. It never just goes away. The pain, fear, and shame doesn't just go away. You must take control of it and make it go away. You no longer need to be ashamed of anything in your past. Who you are today is who you are. What you went through in the past is just something that you had to go through to learn how to become the powerful woman you are today. ASSIGNMENT: Write down the toughest moments of your life and how you felt during those moments. Then, write down how you overcame them, what you learned from them, and how they made you stronger and wiser. Once you are done writing, read over it. See that even though you went through those things, you are still here. You are still standing. You are stronger than you think and more powerful than you know. Sometimes it is easy to forget the struggle once you find Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

11 your strength. Whenever you go through a struggle in the future, refer to what you wrote and remember that if you got through that, you can get through this. Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

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14 LESSON 4: FOCUS ON YOUR OWN THOUGHTS It is human nature to want to be accepted, liked, and approved of, but it should never be to the extent that you compromise your values, health, and well-being to receive validation and acceptance from others. The most important person in your life is you. Before you can care for or love anyone else, you must make sure that you are taken care of and love yourself. A perfect example of this is, when traveling on an airplane, you receive instructions on what to do in the case of an emergency. One of those instructions is to place your oxygen mask on before you help someone else, including your child or the disabled, put on theirs. The point is that before you can effectively save anyone else, you must first save yourself. So it is with life. I am not telling you that you should not care about what other people think about you, I am telling you that you simply should not spend time thinking about what other people think about you. Your focus every day should be on the steps you are taking to improve yourself and reaching your goals. If every day you know that you are doing the best that you can, then does it really matter who approves or disapproves of you? Really think about that. Other people s thoughts do not pay your bills, will not cure you when you are sick, or help you in your times of hardship. People can be in your life one day and gone the next so you cannot give them power over the decisions you make for your life. Regardless of how the world perceives you, what is most important is being clear with yourself about where you are in life, how you feel, and what you need to be happy. It does not matter if everyone around you thinks that you are happy, beautiful, and successful if you do not feel that you are. It also does not matter if people do not perceive you as successful, happy, and beautiful, but you know that you are. Being confident and happy is a choice. No one can give it to you, but once you have it, no one can take it away. Be true to yourself and you will find that you will attract people who will love you for who you are. By being true to yourself, you will also be able to determine your purpose in life, which will lead to your ultimate success and happiness. Remember, all that is required of you daily is to consistently do your absolute best. Focus on achieving your goals, thinking positive, and performing actions to reach the next level of your life and your desired destination. What other people think of you should be the furthest thing from your mind and truth be told, it is none of your business. Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

15 ASSIGNMENT: Make a list of 5 things that you want to improve about yourself. Make a list of 5 goals that you would like to reach. Reflect on how the thoughts of others will assist you in achieving these things. You should find that they won't. Whenever you find yourself worrying about what other people think of you, refer to these lists and remember that there is too much work to do to waste time worrying about what people think of you. Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

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18 LESSON 5: BE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR OWN HAPPINESS "Happiness is an inside job." Happiness is one of those things that no one can give to you and when you truly find it for yourself, no one can take it away. Though there may be people in your life who bring happiness to your life, you must always have a piece of happiness within yourself that won't go away should they change or go away. Happiness is a choice. Every day that you wake up, you choose whether you will be grateful for what you have or complain about what you don't have. As you go throughout the day, when negative energy or obstacles come your way, you choose whether to remain positive and focused or allow yourself to get upset or become distracted. Life is unpredictable and you can't control the people around you, but you can control yourself and the peace inside of you. Everything that you do and action that you take is a conscious choice that you make. Understand that you are responsible for your happiness and make yourself accountable for maintaining your happiness. Before you make the decision to complain or respond negatively to a negative person or situation, think about the consequences that it will have on your happiness. The one thing that most people have in common is the desire to be happy. Happiness is not where you work, how much money you make, where you live, or who you're with. Happiness can't be bought or found in material things and what happiness looks and feels like to one person may not look and feel like to someone else. Don't look at others and assume that they should be happy or are happy based on what they have or how they live. Don't compare yourself to others because your happiness is not their happiness. What you require to be happy may not be the same as what someone else may require. Separate from your mind anything that you may have been told you need to be happy and determine for yourself what you need to be happy. As mentioned in Lesson 3, it does not matter if the whole world looks at your life and thinks that you are beautiful, successful, and happy, but you do not feel the same. It also does not matter if the whole world thinks that you are ugly, unsuccessful, and unhappy if you feel confident and happy with where you are in life and the direction your life is going in. The only person responsible for your happiness is you. You control the people you allow to occupy your space and affect your energy. You control how you react to situations and how you allow people to Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

19 affect your attitude. Decide to do what is necessary to achieve happiness, no matter what, and you will have it. ASSIGNMENT: Reflect on what happiness looks like and feels like to you. Write down the things you require to be happy. Remember, these aren't material things because material things come and go. Make a conscious effort to focus your mind on taking the necessary steps to achieve the happiness you want for your life. Regardless of what is going on around you, decide that you are going to be happy, no matter what, because life is short and happiness is what you deserve. Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

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22 LESSON 6: MAKE UP YOUR MIND TO WIN "A woman is the full circle. Within her is the power to create, nurture, and transform. Diane Mariechild There is not anything that you cannot do once you make your mind up to do it. Whether you want to lose weight, get healthier, increase your finances, get married, travel, get a degree, etc., it is as simple as making up your mind to do it and then taking the necessary steps to getting it done. What separates the successful from the unsuccessful is excuses. If you are looking for an excuse, you will surely find one. "I don't have the time." I don't have the money." "I don't feel like it." "I'll start tomorrow." These are all excuses. Once you start making excuses for why you cannot do what you want or need to do to improve yourself and the quality of your life, you are placing a barrier between yourself and what you wish to have. Life can be overwhelming at times, I get it. At some point, you may look at your life and realize that all of the things that you thought you would have done by now, you never completed or never even started. It can be overwhelming, but do not give up or quit taking steps to reach your goals. Keep moving forward. No matter how small the step, take a step every single day towards reaching at least one of your goals. Be intentional about your decisions and careful with the thoughts that you allow yourself to think. Never tell yourself that you cannot do something or that it is not possible for something that you want to happen to happen for you. You CAN do it and it WILL happen. You only need to determine how to make it happen and then take the necessary action to make it happen. Be confident in yourself and your ability to achieve whatever it is you want to achieve. Strategically plan your next move and get in the habit of doing things that are preparing you for the level you are trying to reach. For example, if you are looking to improve your financial situation, the next time that you are at the mall and you see a pair of shoes that you really want, but not really need, admire them and keep walking. Remind yourself that you do not need them. Instead, put the money that you would have carelessly spent in your savings account or invest it in something that will help you reach the next level of your life. You must take control of yourself and make yourself accountable for your actions. You must empower yourself to make the best decisions for your life to reach your ultimate goals. Remember that there is a bigger picture. Focus on the bigger picture. Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

23 ASSIGNMENT: Write down your short-term and long-term goals. Create a plan of action for each. Determine what habits you have now that will prevent you from reaching each goal and what habits you need to implement to reach them. Create a vision board so that you can visually see what you want your life to look like. Be strategic and intentional with every decision you make going forward. Keep moving forward and decide that you will have everything you want out of your life. "Once she made up her mind to do it, it was already done." Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

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26 LESSON 7: BELIEVE IN YOURSELF The only "yes" that you need to follow your dreams is yours. This is something to always keep in mind when you run into lack of support, closed doors, or people (even the closest ones to you) who do not believe in your dreams. You do not need everyone to support you to succeed. You only need to believe in your own ability to succeed. You decide what you focus on and what you allow to stop you or slow you down. If you know that you want something, let nothing and no one stop you from obtaining it. To fully understand why you should not be concerned with whether people support you or not, you must understand that not everyone thinks like you or feels the way that you do. Not everyone can relate to your dreams and not everyone can see your vision and the direction that you are going in. Your vision is yours. In the beginning, no one needs to see it or understand it except you. If you believe in it, move forward into bringing it into fruition. As you continue to work, it will become more and more clear for others to see and understand what you are doing. Going forward, it is important to understand that some people won't support your growth because they are not ready to grow. Your growth may make others feel insecure about where they are and what they are doing in their own life. Some do not even know how to support others because they are so caught up in their own lives that they are unable to see the importance of supporting others in theirs. There are numerous reasons why others may not support you, but the point is that none of those reasons are your problem. Lack of support for whatever reason should not keep you from pursuing your goals. Lack of support cannot stop you unless you allow it to. Once you realize that and become fully focused on your goals, you will find that you have more support than you thought and all the support that you need. You will eventually find that it's not that you didn't have support, you just didn't have it from the ones you expected to receive it from. You will also learn to be okay with that and focus your energy on those who do support you instead of being distracted by the ones who don't. You cannot change or control anyone's behavior so you cannot allow anyone's actions or behaviors stop you from doing what you need and want to do to improve the quality of your life. You have power over your life. As you continue along your journey, you must make yourself accountable for your own success and happiness. You cannot blame anyone else or use anyone s lack of support as an Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

27 excuse for not accomplishing your goals. Blaming other people will not get you to your destination any faster. Starting today, make yourself responsible for the choices that you make and the direction you choose to go. It is only when you own up to the fact that you are responsible for your life that you can take power over it, improve it, and be happy living it. "Create the highest, grandest vision possible for your life because you become what you believe." Oprah Winfrey ASSIGNMENT: Answer the following questions. 1. Do you believe that you are worthy of happiness? 2. Do you believe that you deserve success? 3. Do you believe that you can achieve the goals that you set for yourself? 4. Do you believe that you should have and can have everything that you have ever dreamed of? Reflect over your answers. If you answered no to any of the above, determine why. Evaluate your past and start taking steps to resolve any issues that are blocking your blessings. Determine how you can change your thoughts so that you can be more confident in pursuit of your goals. Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

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30 LESSON 8: LIFE GOES ON Resilience (noun) - the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties Have you ever planned for something and just when you thought that you had it all figured out, everything started falling apart? You spent months saving money, but then your car broke down and caused you to deplete your entire savings account. You worked hard at your job and finally got a promotion to the position you had been vying for, but then 2 months later the company downsized and you got laid off. Just about everyone can relate to these types of scenarios. That's life. Stuff happens. The best way to get through life with ease is to understand that unplanned and unexpected things happen, but everything will work out for the best. No matter how much you plan, there are always outside forces that have the potential to make your plan change or fall apart. However, that is not your cue to fall apart too. If you are still living, breathing, and of sound mind and body, everything is going to be okay. Do not be so quick to allow minor obstacles distract you from reaching your goals. Do not be so quick to get bent out of shape when things do not go exactly as you planned. If you pay attention to the factors that have changed in the situation, you may see that the new circumstances are more beneficial to you than the previous circumstances. When a door closes, start looking around because somewhere another one opened. Do not keep staring at the closed door. Look for the positive in every situation. Look for the new opportunity that is now available to you that you would not have seen if you were not forced to turn in a different direction and look at it. Sometimes seemingly negative things must happen to allow you to move in another direction and grow out of your comfort zone. Most times even though things look bad, in the background they are working out for your good. Referring to the aforementioned scenarios, here are a couple of examples of how to view seemingly negative situations in a positive perspective: Scenario #1: You spent months saving money, but then your car broke down and caused you to spend it all. Positive Perspective: It beats the alternative of not having the money to fix your car at all and saved you the unnecessary stress of having to borrow money to get your car fixed or bumming rides to work until you can save up money to get it fixed. Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

31 Scenario #2: You worked hard at your job and finally got a promotion to the position you had been vying for, but 2 months later the company downsized and you got laid off. Positive Perspective: You got the promotion just in time. The company was going to go downsize anyway, but now you have the opportunity to add the new position title and increased knowledge and experience to your resume to apply for a higher level position at a new company. It did not go the way that you expected, but it is still okay. You are still okay. Stay focused and keep moving forward. Remember that it is not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters most. ASSIGNMENT: Think of the times in your life when you planned for something and it didn't go as planned, but something better came out of it. It has happened at some point in your life, but you either didn't notice it or forgot about it. Write it down so that the next time you run into a similar situation, you will have a reminder that even when it looks bad, you shouldn't stress, worry, or give up because it's really working out for your good. Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

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34 LESSON 9: THINK POSITIVE "If you realized how powerful your thoughts are, you would never think a negative thought." Peace Pilgram Your thoughts are more powerful than you may realize. Do you know that you have the power to manifest things just by thinking about them? Your actions are guided by your thoughts. Positive thoughts yield positive actions and positive results. If you wake up in the morning thinking that it's going to be a bad day, most likely it will be. If you wake up in the morning and decide that it's going to be a good day, it will be. Your thoughts are the most powerful thing you have as they will either guide you to success or lead you to destruction. "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." Winston Churchill Evaluate every challenge and see how it is benefitting you or can benefit you instead of focusing on how difficult it will be to get through. There is always something positive to be found in every negative situation. There is always a door that opened when one closed. If you look for the positive, you will find it and if you look for the negative, you will find it. "Watch your thoughts, they become words. Watch your words, they become actions. Watch your actions, they become habits. Watch your habits, they become your character. Watch your character, it becomes your destiny." Thinking, speaking, and behaving negatively will never lead to anything positive. Get in the habit of checking yourself when you allow negative thoughts to creep into your mind. Catch yourself before you speak negatively about yourself or anyone else. There is a balance in life. You have heard about this balance in some form or the other whether it was, "What goes around comes around." or "You reap what you sow." Stop yourself before you act or react negatively. Never allow anyone to cause you to act out of character or seek revenge. Once you understand that the universe rewards people based on what they put out, you will see that there is no need for revenge on your end. Avoid being your own worst enemy by trying to convince yourself that you don't want what you truly want for fear that you can't or won't have it. That is one of the best ways to sabotage yourself from reaching your goals. If you tell yourself that you can't have Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

35 it or won't have it then you will stop actively pursuing it. If you stop walking in the direction of the destination that you are trying to reach, then how do you expect to get there? Don't speak against the life that you want, speak for it. Get in the habit of taking control of your thoughts and emotions and do not allow yourself to do anything that is counterproductive to reaching the goal that you are trying to reach. It is absolutely life-changing to make the decision to only think positive thoughts, speak positive words, and perform positive actions. It is liberating to take power over your emotions and responses to situations and people. If you get in the practice of living a life where you are positive internally and only allow positive energy around you, you will notice that you will produce a life filled with positivity. Yes, there will still be obstacles and negative forces that may come into your space, but instead of reacting negatively to them, choose to view those kinds of situations as opportunities to learn, grow, and improve yourself. Make up your mind to stay positive and see what difference it makes. ASSIGNMENT: For the next 3 days document any obstacles you run into or negative situations you find yourself in and how you respond to them. Describe how your responses, whether positive or negative, made you feel and what the immediate outcomes were. Evaluate the outcomes to determine which responses worked best and which need improvement. Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

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38 LESSON 10: TAKE NOTHING PERSONALLY "There is a huge amount of freedom that comes to you when you take nothing personally." Don Miguel Ruiz In a world with people of different races, cultures, backgrounds, upbringings, personalities, personal issues, etc., you must expect and accept that not everyone will think or behave like you. There are times when you will encounter people who will be rude, unkind, and hateful. The closest people to you may do things to you that you just cannot understand. Unfortunately, many can relate to having an unsupportive family member that tries to convince them that they will not amount to anything, a friend that never compliments them or applauds when they accomplish things, a co-worker that walks past them daily and acts like they do not exist, and various other scenarios of people doing things that are confusing and hurtful. Being empowered is being aware of the things that you have no power over. It is also knowing who you are, what you are worth, and what you deserve and never allowing the actions of others to make you feel unworthy or small. You are in control of your thoughts and emotions. When people do strange, mean, and hurtful things to you that you know that you did not provoke or do not deserve, understand that the problem that they have is not with you, but with themselves. Once you fully understand this, you will no longer take it personal. You may find yourself feeling sympathy for them. When you think about it, it is sad that there are people walking around with such deep-rooted issues that they feel the need to cause others pain to feel just a little bit better about themselves. Often, the things that they do to others are things that others have done to them so they are just continuing the cycle. Your mission is to be happy, successful, and in control of your life. Allowing bitter people to make you bitter does not align with your mission. Do not get caught in the negative cycle. When you run into angry, bitter, and hateful people, ignore them, say a prayer for them, or if you feel inclined to and safe doing so, try talking to them. That is the power that you have over those types of situations. Help them if you can or want to, but do not allow their issue or problem to become your issue or problem. Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

39 ASSIGNMENT: Write down any situations in your life that relate to this lesson. Ask yourself if you take it personally when you encounter people who treat you in a way that you do not appreciate or deserve. If the answer is "yes", ask yourself why you take it personally. Include how these encounters make/made you feel and what affect it has/had, if any, on you and your other relationships. Write down your plan for how you will handle these encounters going forward and make up your mind to free yourself from making other people s issues your problem. Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

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42 LESSON 11: NEVER QUIT "Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don't quit." Conrad Hilton When life gets tough, do not quit. Life can be most difficult when you are working to make something out of it. Anything worth having will most likely not come easy, but with difficulty comes ease. For example, exercising is difficult at first, but in time your body gets used to it. After pushing past the pain, you begin to see your body transform and do things that you never thought were possible. Although difficult at first, exercising makes your life easier in the long run by increasing your energy and decreasing your chances of having health problems. It also increases confidence and discipline. If the things that most people wanted out of life were easy to obtain then everyone would have them and no one would appreciate them. You value what you work for more. Your struggles make you strong and your trials make you wise. Do not run from the pain. Do not quit when things become difficult. Embrace challenges and face obstacles head on because they are a sign that you are growing and moving to a new level. The greater the goals, the bigger the obstacles. You better believe that if you are aiming to achieve something great in your life, there will most certainly be obstacles that you will need to overcome on the way to reaching those goals. There may be obstacles that come your way that make it seem like you just need to give up, but never allow yourself to make quitting an option. Whether you have to jump over the hurdle, go under it, around it, or through it, just keep going. There is more than one way to get things done. If you need to, pause for a moment and think about your next move before you make it. Evaluate your situation and look at what tools, connections, and opportunities you have available to make the next step. It can be far too easy at times to get distracted, frustrated, and discouraged when you are working hard to accomplish something and things aren't going your way or you are consistently running into challenges, but instead of giving up, just stop for a moment and remind yourself that with this difficulty is going to come ease. There is something greater on the opposite end of the pain and struggle and the only way to get to greater is to experience the growing pains. When it is all said and done, you will be able to look back and see why the struggle was necessary for you to reach the next level. When it gets Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

43 tough, just remember that you are only being prepared for what is to come. Remember that you deserve everything that you desire out of life. Do not stop until you get it. ASSIGNMENT: Write down the things that you have told yourself that you can't do, but want or need to do to improve the quality of your life. Example: I can't be patient. I can't focus on right now. I don't have time to do. I won't be able to complete in time. Replace your "can't", "don't", and "won't" with "CAN", "DO", and "WILL". Remember, you make time for what you want to make time for. You will find a way to do anything that you truly want to do. Making excuses for why you can t do what you need to do to improve your life doesn't hurt anyone except you. Before you can change your life, you must first change your mind. Push past the "can't", "don't", and "won't" and you will find that you "CAN", "DO", and "WILL". Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

44 Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

45 Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

46 LESSON 12: COMMUNICATE "I communicate even when it is not easy for me to say the words that I think in my head and feel in my heart. I communicate even when I feel that what I have to say will not be well-received. I communicate even when I am afraid that the truth won t set me free, but bury me. I communicate because I have learned that it is better to get it out than to hold it in. I communicate because it got too heavy to carry the burden of unspoken words and unexpressed feelings. I communicate because as much as I wish people would hear my silent cries and see my subliminal signs, people cannot read my mind. I communicate because it feels good to finally make my voice heard and for others to know that I am human. I communicate because I cannot hold anyone responsible for how they treat me if I never let them know how I want to be treated. I communicate because it clears up miscommunications and saves my relationships. I communicate because it frees me from the prison of my own thoughts and feelings and opens me up to a world of alternate perspectives and new ways of thinking." These are some of the thoughts that I wrote down one day on my own journey to becoming an empowered woman. Every day I spend time with myself to reflect over my life and determine the things that I need to do to improve myself and the quality of my life. I advise that you do the same as it is very therapeutic to your soul and spirit to just sit quietly with yourself and think about who you are, who you want to be, where you are, and where you want to be and then make yourself responsible for becoming that woman and getting to that destination. Your success and happiness begins and ends with you. It is enlightening to realize that you have the power to make the decision to be better, do better, and ultimately have better. Communication is very important to having successful relationships in all aspects of your life. Although sometimes, one of the hardest things to do might be communicating and expressing how you feel, it can prove to be one of the best things that you could ever do for yourself. Thoughts and feelings that go unexpressed have the potential to turn into bitterness, resentment, anger, sadness, or depression. Being empowered is understanding that it is your right to say how you feel and to tell people when they have hurt you, upset you, or treated you unfairly. Why should you have to suffer in silence? Why would you want to? Communication is liberating. Communication clears up miscommunications. Communication saves and repairs relationships. Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

47 Communication allows you to have a voice and greater control over situations. Communication saves you. Whether it is a relationship with your boss, co-worker, friend, neighbor, or significant other, before you get upset and take any action, have a conversation. Even though people do things that seem obvious that they were trying to hurt you or upset you, you will not know that for sure until you take the time to tell them what they did and how they made you feel and then be open to hearing their explanation. People cannot read your mind and if you do not tell people what you are thinking and the reason for a change in your attitude or behavior towards them, they may make assumptions. Often, those assumptions are incorrect. It is better to be open and honest than to be misunderstood. People treat you how you allow them to and how you show them is acceptable to treat you. One thing you never want to do is to let someone get comfortable with treating you in a way that is unfair to you and then try to correct them after too much time has passed. As soon as it happens, think over it. Determine if you are just being overly sensitive in that moment as women are subject to varying hormones. If you determine that your feelings are valid, address it as close to immediately as possible. Make sure that it is the right time and place and that you are in the right state of mind because you never want to start a conversation in anger. ASSIGNMENT: Write down any unexpressed feelings that you have and for how long you have been carrying them. You will see that if you are still carrying them then they aren't just going to go away. Explain to yourself why you have not expressed them to the person they are stemming from and what you think the outcome would be if you did. Based on the outcome, ask yourself if it is worth it to continue carrying these feelings for the rest of your life or if it would be more rewarding to get it off of your chest so that you can move on to better and brighter days. Also, write down how these unexpressed feelings are affecting your relationships with other people. Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

48 Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

49 Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

50 LESSON 13: THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK "Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret." Laurence J. Peter Now that you understand that you should communicate, it is also important to understand when and when not to share your thoughts and feelings. Communication is like an art. Timing, tone, and attitude play a significant part in how what you say is received. You never want to communicate when your emotions are high, especially when you are angry. You never want to act out of anger. When someone does something to upset or offend you, think before you respond and react. A good rule of thumb is to think 5 times before you speak. This allows for you to calm down if you are angry and really evaluate what the consequences may be for what you say and how your words may affect the person that you are speaking to. You may have heard the rhyme, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me. You may have also experienced having words spoken to you that made you feel like you got hit by a bus. Sometimes words can hurt even more than sticks and stones. Many people are more quickly to forgive a person after a physical fight than after someone spews words at them purposely to hurt them. Bruises can heal, but the sound of hurtful words can linger in the hearts and minds of people forever. Once the words are said, they can never be taken back and even with an apology and a promise of forgiveness, people will still sometimes never forget the hurtful words that you said. Find a time to speak to the person when you have their full attention and you have the time to say what you need to say. Do not call them at work or while you are at work. When possible, try to communicate face-to-face as it is best for the person to have a visual to go along with your words and ensures that you have their undivided attention. The less chances for your message to misinterpreted, the better. It is not always easy to sense the seriousness of the situation or emotions that a person is feeling over the phone. Avoid texting about anything serious. The way that you say it via text is not always the way that the person will read it. Save yourself the confusion and miscommunication and either pick up the phone or schedule a face-to-face meeting. Always speak in a respectable tone and request the same from the person you are speaking to. Speak and then allow time Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

51 to listen for their response. Depending on the person, you may need to lay these ground rules out before you begin the conversation. Do not raise your voice and if the conversation gets too heated and turns into an argument, end the conversation until both parties calm down. It is also important to remember that your words reflect who you are as a person. Do not allow that one day when you feel pushed too far be the day that you tarnish your name and reputation because of your choice of words when speaking with someone who has angered you. Do not allow anyone to have that kind of power over you. Sometimes people will try to provoke you just to get you to act out of character. Thinking before you speak will help to prevent you from saying things that you should not say or do not mean. You are in control of yourself. Never allow anyone to cause you to lose control. Be mindful that there is always someone watching and listening. Your words have the power to uplift, lead, and motivate, but they also have the power to destroy, tear down, and discourage. Choose them wisely. ASSIGNMENT: Reflect over your current methods of communication and determine if there are any areas that need improvement. Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

52 Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

53 Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

54 LESSON 14: CONTROL YOUR INSECURITIES Having insecurities does not make you weak, it makes you human. A woman is not defined as empowered because she always feels strong, confident, and powerful. What makes a woman empowered is that in the moments that she does not feel strong, confident, and powerful, she remains in control of herself and does not take it out on others. She chooses to identify why she has those feelings and works on herself (internally) to change it. A lot of the time, feelings of insecurity sneak up after comparing yourself to someone else. Being around people who you feel are smarter, prettier, more successful, wealthier, etc., can make you feel less confident in yourself and your achievements. If you ever find yourself feeling that way, here are a couple of tips for not allowing your insecurities turn into something ugly and negatively affect you and the people around you. 1. Avoid comparing yourself to others. It is healthy to admire and look up to people who have reached goals that you are aiming to reach, but it is unhealthy to find yourself picking yourself apart or feeling envious because you have not yet accomplished what they have. Other people's accomplishments should never make you feel inferior. By comparing yourself to others, you are allowing yourself to lose focus on your own talents and abilities and the opportunities that have been made available to you. Remember, it is less important to worry about what others are doing and thinking and more important to focus on working towards becoming your best self. Instead of spending time comparing what you have and do not have to what others have and do not have, work on loving yourself, getting comfortable in your own skin, building your confidence, and utilizing what you have to get to where you are trying to go. Focus on your own vision for your life and work on taking the steps to create a life that you will love instead of wishing that you had someone else's life, a life that you might not even like if you had the opportunity to live it. 2. When you find yourself feeling insecure, jealous, or envious, own up to it. Those are feelings that come from within. No one can make you feel something that is not already within you and no one can control those feelings except you. If you feel inadequate or intimidated when in a space with people who have reached a level of success that you admire, that means that you want more from Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

55 your life. That is a good thing. It is good to want more. Now focus on getting it instead of being jealous of someone who has it. Being empowered means having control. Determine why being in the presence of certain people makes you feel insecure. Ask yourself what it is that they have or do that you do not have or wish you could do. Turn these negative feelings into something positive. If they have something that you want, what is stopping you from getting it? If they have knowledge that you wish that you had, what is stopping you from obtaining it? If they know how to do something that you wish you knew how to do, why can't you learn how to do it too? Turn your insecurities or feelings of jealousy into inspiration and motivation. Choose to learn from those people who make you feel like you should be doing more. Be motivated by them. Understand that those are the people you need to surround yourself with because they will challenge you to reach for higher and be better. Never shrink in the presence of someone whose presence feels larger than yours. Do what it takes to get to their level and then once you get there, look for the next person above you to look up to. As you are growing and working to improve yourself there may be times that you experience feelings of insecurity, but never let those feelings control you and prevent you from moving forward. Evaluate them, understand them, correct them, and use them to motivate you to do and be better. ASSIGNMENT: Write down your insecurities (if any) and where you think they are stemming from. If any, write down the people in your life that make you feel insecure when they are around you and why. Determine how you can use those feelings of insecurity and/or those people to motivate you to grow and reach your goals. Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

56 Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

57 Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

58 LESSON 15: DO NOT COMPARE "Comparison is an act of violence against the self. Iyanla Vanzant The best way to stop seeing how beautiful, successful, smart, accomplished, and blessed you are is to start comparing yourself to others. It is okay to admire someone and even use their success and accomplishments as an example of what you can achieve, but you should never compare your life to others to determine how much less you have or how much further you have to go. Your journey is yours and yours alone. There is no need to compare as each person s journey is unique. Though there may be similarities, no two journeys are the same. You cannot look at where someone else is in life and compare that to where you are because neither of you started in the same place or have had the same experiences. You are two different people seeing life through different eyes and experiencing different things that are molding and directing each of you to your individual destinations. Love, appreciate, and embrace your journey because it's yours and the road that you are walking was paved just for you. Competition is healthy when you are running a race, interviewing for a promotion at work, or challenging a friend or family member to reach a positive goal. Competition is unhealthy once it becomes about trying to outdo or outshine someone because their presence makes you feel inferior or you just want to do better than someone to make yourself feel better about who and where you are. People who have those insecurities and that mindset will always be in competition with someone because there will always be someone who is a step ahead or a level above them. What's for you is for you. Once you understand that, you will have no need or want to compare yourself to others or compete in unhealthy competitions. You were born with a specific purpose. Although the choices that you make can steer your life in different directions and you can be the creator of your own problems and contributor of your own solutions, what's meant for you will always be for you. Understand that and you won't want to ever think or do another negative thing in your life. When you are always doing positive things, you can bet that your destination will be positive even though you may run into negative situations and obstacles along the way. So, there really is no need to worry about comparing yourself to others or competing with anyone else. Focus on yourself and your Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

59 desired destination. Focus on improving yourself constantly and consistently. Master making intentional decisions that will lead to the best possible results. Embrace your journey and walk in positivity, hope, and faith. If you do your part, everything will work out in your favor. ASSIGNMENT: Reflect on this lesson. Evaluate your current thoughts and actions and determine if you need a mindset shift. Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

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61 Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

62 LESSON 16: USE YOUR TIME WISELY Do you believe that life is what you make it? Successful people and unsuccessful people have the same 24 hours in a day. The difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is that successful people are willing to sacrifice more of their time and energy doing things that will assist in their growth, progress, and success. They work hard in the present so that they can relax in the future. Success is about sacrificing the things that you want to do for things that you need to do. It is trading in temporary gratification for permanent happiness. You do not want to put yourself in a position where you have wasted so much time and energy on temporary gratification that you find yourself in a situation where you are unable to obtain any gratification at all. Success does not happen on accident. People do not reach their goals by coincidence. It takes consistent focus, sacrifice, and determination and the understanding that although it is important to live in the moment and enjoy the now, it is also important to plan and prepare for the future. The reward is often greater than the sacrifice. A person that takes one hour daily to exercise is increasing the quality of their entire life. One hour of exercise per day results in less chances of getting sick and having health problems, having more energy, being in a better mood, increased discipline, etc. A person that chooses to aggressively save for their retirement can retire at a younger age and have more time to enjoy life. A person that chooses to read and study on their downtime is gaining knowledge that will open their mind to opportunities that they may not have ever known existed. It is important to be mindful of what you are focusing on and committing your energy to because it is often difficult to focus on two things at once. Be sure to steer clear of anything that is not going to help you grow or put you in the frame of mind to be positive and focused. Choose to make healthy and positive choices for your life. For example, exchange that entertaining television show for an informational book on the field that you work in or seek to start a business in. Instead of eating out for lunch every day, make your lunches and put the extra money in your savings account. Making steps like these will not only assist in your success, but it will also teach you to be more disciplined and make you recognize the power of your decisions. When you start to see an increase in opportunities and at least 4 digits in your savings account balance, it will inspire you to continue making positive steps towards creating a life that you Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

63 are not just getting through, but enjoying comfortably. It is all up to you. Life is indeed what you make it. Intentionally make it great. ASSIGNMENT: Create a breakdown of how you spend your days on average. Evaluate what things you might be able to do without to make time for the things that you really need to do to achieve your goals and improve the quality of your life. Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

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65 Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

66 LESSON 17: CONTROL YOURSELF In a perfect world, you would be able to make people treat you the way that you want to be treated. Unfortunately, this is not a perfect world so to maintain your peace and sanity, it is important to understand that you cannot change people, control people, or make anyone do anything that they do not want to do. Once you understand this, you will save yourself a lot of headaches and heartache. In the words of Dr. Maya Angelou, "When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time." The only person that you can control is you. In any relationship that you are in, whether it be work or personal, you know what you expect to receive from it and what you require to be happy in it. You teach people how to treat you by how you allow them to treat you. You have the power to accept or deny any treatment that is displeasing to you. You have the power to express yourself and you do not need permission to protect yourself. Although you cannot control what people do, you can always choose how you react to it and decide not to be reduced by it. Any relationship where you do not feel safe to express yourself and are not able to come to a resolution that will allow you to be treated fairly and feel fulfilled is a relationship that you should reevaluate participating in. Your presence, positive or negative, has an impact on every person that you encounter, but that does not mean that you can impact them to change into the person you want them to be. People change when they are ready to (if they even want to) and not a moment sooner. Understanding this, you must protect yourself and put your well-being first. When you find yourself in a situation with a person who has made it clear to you that who they are does not fit well with who you are or who you are working to be, you must know when to create some distance between you and that person or remove them from your life completely. In any situation that you find yourself in, always remember that even if everything is out of control around you, you are still in control of your thoughts, your words, and your actions. Even when you feel that you have no power, you do. You have complete control over you. Life becomes simpler when you stop trying to control and change people and accept them for who they are. There is power in understanding that some people will be a good fit for you and some will not, but either way you are the controller of who gets to stay in your life and who must go Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

67 for the sake of your own peace, happiness, and success. You have the power to create a life you love with people you love and who love you. Embrace and own your power and don't try to control anyone else's. ASSIGNMENT: Are you participating in any relationships, work or personal, that you are dissatisfied with? If yes, why? Reflect on what your time means to you and why it's important not to waste it on things that make you unhappy. Write down the areas and situations in your life, if any, that you feel that you have no control over. Evaluate why you feel that you don t have control and what steps you can take based on this lesson and previous lessons to regain control of your power in those areas or situations. Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

68 Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

69 Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

70 LESSON 18: PROTECT YOUR ENERGY It's so important to realize that every time you get upset, it drains your emotional energy. Losing your cool makes you tired. Getting angry a lot messes with your health." Joyce Meyer It is important to place yourself in environments and around people that increase your positive energy and lift your spirit higher. Be mindful of the things that you listen to, conversations that you entertain, and situations that you react to. Your energy level and whether you feel positive or negative affects everything that you do. When you feel positive, you think positive thoughts and perform positive actions, which yield positive results. The exact same goes for when you feel negative. Have you ever noticed that participating in negative conversations drains your energy level or being around negative people makes you feel exhausted? Sometimes without you even realizing it, people will project their negative energy onto you or draw you into their negative space causing you to find yourself feeling down and low. Put your antenna up. Take notice of when you do not feel positive around a person and separate yourself from them. Be aware of when you feel negative in an environment or situation and remove yourself from it. Trust your instincts. Positive people cannot exist in a negative space and negative people cannot exist in a positive space. One will influence the other to change. You are what you attract. Protect your positive energy because once you allow yourself to become negative, you will find yourself attracting negative people and situations. Energy is contagious. You are responsible for the kind you attract by the kind you give off. Negative energy attracts negative energy. Negative thoughts manifest negative situations. Positive energy attracts positive energy. Positive thoughts manifest positive opportunities. Protect yourself from being exposed to anything and anyone who makes you want to think and be negative. Keep your energy positive by surrounding yourself with positive people who are also more interested in finding solutions than focusing on and creating problems. Encompass positivity. Exude positivity. Produce positivity. Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

71 ASSIGNMENT: Reflect on what kind of energy you think you give off and attract as well as the type of energy you re usually surrounded by and evaluate if you need to make some changes. Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

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73 Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

74 LESSON 19: FIND YOUR PASSION AND PURPOSE There is a reason for your being. There is a purpose for your life. Your passion is directly connected to your purpose. Some people determine what their passion is at a young age, others a little later in life, and many go their entire lives without ever finding it or pursuing it. Your passion is that thing that you love to do that may come easier to you than it does to others. When searching for your passion, there is one thing that you must eliminate from your thinking to find it. You cannot think about whether it is going to make you money or not. This is a mistake that many make because including money as a factor limits your ability to think outside of the box. You cannot possibly know if the thing that you love to do and are purposed to do will make money or not unless you have already seen someone else making money from doing it. The idea is not to live in someone else s purpose, but to find your own. You may have a talent, idea, or ability that will be something unique to your community or even the world. If it is indeed your purpose and you pursue it, you will be successful. Once you determine your passion and begin to live in your purpose, you will find that it will open you up to a world of new opportunities. You will find yourself tapping into talents that you may not have ever known were within you. You will begin to attract like-minded people and connect with people who can relate to you and assist you with rising to new levels. These are people that you may not have ever met if you never started doing things that allowed you to move in the same circles as them. When you are being true to yourself, doing what you love, and living in your purpose, life becomes a lot more interesting and things begin to make more sense. If you feel like you never fit in, are bored with your life, or have a void that you are trying to constantly fill, it is most likely because you are not being true to yourself and doing what you were created to do. Life has a way of giving you signs to point you in the direction that you should be going in. Pay attention. If you are not satisfied and fulfilled with choosing a career or way of life based on what others told you was acceptable or would make you successful, listen to that nagging feeling inside of you that is telling you that you should be doing something different, something that would make you feel more free and happy. When it seems that you are constantly being forced to move outside of your comfort zone and pursue a different path, do not fight it. You were not born to live someone else s life. Your existence has a purpose and whether it is to work Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

75 for someone doing what you love to do or operating your own business doing what you love to do, the bottom line is that you should be doing what you love to do. Time is valuable. You are valuable. Do not waste your talents or your time. Trust and believe in your talents and abilities and have faith that if you are doing what you are meant to do then you will be successful in more ways than just financially. ASSIGNMENT: Determine your passion and purpose (if you haven't already) and create a plan of action to pursue it (if you aren't already). Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

76 Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

77 Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

78 LESSON 20: HAVE FAITH Faith is having complete trust and confidence in something without having proof that you should trust or have confidence in it. When you set out to accomplish any goal in life, there is not always proof that you will accomplish it. Some of the greatest and most successful people in the world did not have a roadmap to success. For some, there was no one before them that had ever done what they did so they had no guarantee whether they would be successful or not. All that they had was trust and confidence that they would reach their intended destination and that was enough for them to continue moving forward even when they were unsure of where the road would take them. You must have faith to win. Even with a map that shows you which way to go to achieve your goals, you may still experience unexpected obstacles and roadblocks on the road to reaching them. When you run into challenges that make you want to turn around and go back, you must have faith to continue moving forward. You must believe in your purpose and abilities and not give up when things get tough. You must trust that even when the path gets foggy and you can no longer see the road ahead of you, eventually the fog will clear and you will find yourself closer to your destination. Faith keeps you going when you have every reason to quit. Faith is taking one more step when you want to give up and believing that step will be the breakthrough that you have been waiting for. On the road to achieving a goal, expect to experience trials. Your faith and resilience will be tested. Anything worth having rarely comes easy. Once you find your passion and begin to live in your purpose, practice having faith. Diamonds do not become diamonds without pressure. Just like diamonds, to reach the best stage of your life, you must experience pressure. The only thing that will allow you to withstand it and fight through it is having faith that once it is over you will come out as a better and stronger version of yourself. Faith makes you fearless in situations that you would otherwise be afraid of because without seeing the outcome, you believe that it will be an outcome that is favorable to you. Faith is the key to being successful in most anything, if not everything, that you do. ASSIGNMENT: Reflect on things that you really want to do or feel that you should do, but don't because you are unsure of what the outcome will be. Think of areas where you can increase your faith in and create steps that you can take to do so. Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

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80 Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

81 DAY 21: HELP OTHERS You win by helping others win. Sprinkle positive seeds everywhere that you go because the more seeds that you plant, the more positivity you will manifest in your life. You cannot win by being selfish. You cannot lose by supporting others. The more that you help others, the more opportunities that you will create for yourself. You are a powerful force individually, but you become even more powerful when you form connections with other powerful people. Give back. Once you reach a new level, reach back and lift someone else up. You never know how much you helping someone else can help you. People rarely forget those who supported them and as life has a way of being a rollercoaster ride full of ups and downs, it is always helpful to have someone that would be happy to help you when you are experiencing a down moment. Life is about give and take and paying it forward. When you receive blessings, be a blessing. That is how you keep your blessings coming. Be a cheerful giver. There is nothing that you give away that will not come back to you in some form or another. There is a balance in life. Everything that you do, positive or negative, will eventually come back to you. Whether it is sharing knowledge, putting someone else in a position to win, or donating money to a charity, do things that are going to create a positive environment for you. Treat others the way that you want to be treated. Anything that you desire for people to give to you, make sure that you are willing to give the same to others. If you want support, give support. If you want encouragement, give encouragement. If you want to receive love, give love. ASSIGNMENT: Think of ways that you can help others. It can be as simple as sharing words of encouragement or as major as supporting a small business by purchasing or promoting their products or services. Write down the responses that you receive when you perform acts of kindness and how it makes you feel. Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

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83 Copyright Women By Choice, LLC

84 In May 2014, after experiencing years of failed friendships and negative interactions with women, Andromeda determined that it is her mission and purpose in life to empower and unite women. What initially began as a blog where Andromeda shared her stories of betrayal, loss of friendships, and lack of support from other women on her entrepreneurship journey turned into a global network that promotes support and sisterhood amongst women. Since taking excerpts from her blog to social media and sharing her empowering messages that encourage women to collaborate instead of compete, deal with their insecurities, know their worth, and use their power, Women By Choice has grown a massive online presence with a following of over 80,000 women worldwide. Although Women By Choice s social media presence has great influence, has been proven to positively impact the lives of women, and is valuable to the growth and exposure of women-owned businesses, Women By Choice is much more than a social media account. Women By Choice has been successful in connecting and supporting women from around the United States via the Women By Choice Network, an online-based network where women connect, form business partnerships, and create genuine friendships. Women By Choice has also been successful in connecting and empowering women offline via networking and social events. As an Empowerment Coach, Author, and Speaker, Andromeda provides valuable content for women and speaks at events around the country for the purpose of empowering women to live up to their full potential. As she has a heart for seeing women do and be their best, Andromeda is committed to inspiring and encouraging women daily. Andromeda believes that When Women Support Women, We ALL Win! Andromeda has been featured in The Huffington Post as Your Ambitious Women s Empowerment Expert. Included among the many professional speaking engagements on her resume, Andromeda was a panelist on the Millenial She-E-O Panel for the Tampa Bay Business Journal Biz Women Summit. She also finds importance in volunteering her time to positively impact the youth. Her commitment to improving the lives of others includes being a mentor at the Girl Scouts of West Central Florida CEO Camp. Copyright Women By Choice, LLC