Many of us desire to experience success.

Of course success means different things to different people. But for everyone, it’s something that improves their lives.

Stories about how people have achieved success in a variety of areas are commonplace.

They motivate us to search for that elusive key to living a successful, happy and financially independent life.

Maybe the success of others has inspired you to find a more rewarding lifestyle.

Or you might realize your life is blah and that you need to escape from boredom and inaction.

But how can you empower yourself to start on this success journey?

ACCA might be the answer for you.

Grasp these four things and become empowered.

One way to think about empowerment is to consider what disempowerment is. Therefore, I’ll use comparison to explain the four aspects of ACCA.

1. AWARENESS happens when you focus

Disempowering
Not focusing wholeheartedly on what you want to achieve.

Feeling blah, so you’re not aware of opportunities when they arise.

Empowering
Awareness happens when you focus on something you really want. It’s far off but it’s burning brightly.

Because you’re thinking about it a lot, your mind is very aware of it.

To get somewhere you’ve never been before, you have to make a start. Awareness is the place to start.

Listen to people you meet, read news articles and posts on the internet.

Use social media.

Awareness enables you to look around in anticipation.

“Awareness allows us to get outside of our minds and observe it in action.” – Dan Brule

Triggers for ideas pop up in the most unexpected places – on t-shirts, signs, logos, advertisements – wherever. Even bad days or life’s obstacles can be triggers that start your thinking.

Just a tip: Jot things down immediately. Too many good ideas are forgotten through lack of a simple jot.

So, to start the empowerment process, develop awareness.

2. CHANGE is positive – a stepping-stone to success

Disempowering
Telling yourself and believing that you are powerless, and incapable of achieving success.

Empowering
Empowerment might involve changing some of your attitudes and beliefs.

When you catch yourself thinking in terms of “can’t” or “impossible”, tell yourself you can and that it IS possible.

Believe that you are not powerless. You can accomplish anything you strive for. Feel the power within you ready to be unleashed.

In addition to changing beliefs, if you’re dissatisfied with your life, other changes will be unavoidable. Try to see the benefits that change will bring. Then you can embrace it without becoming too overwhelmed.

Remember that the most successful people make changes regularly.

Change is to be desired, not feared. View changing and growing as stepping-stones to success.

Adapting to change is step two towards empowerment.

3. Build up your own CONFIDENCE

Disempowerment
Believing you’ve never felt confident, so you never will in the future.

Empowerment
Recognize that everyone has fears and apprehensions.

It is possible, however, to empower yourself to appear confident by doing a few easy things that, if practiced, become part of you.

• Sit, stand and walk tall with shoulders back.
• Speak slowly and clearly.
• Speak with authority.
• Say a mantra, such as “I speak with confidence and look confident, therefore I AM confident.”

The more you practice, the more confident you’ll become.

Being confident is at the center of empowering yourself.

4. Turn awareness, change and confidence into ACTION

Now that you’ve done lots of discovering, learning and thinking, it’s time to act.

There’s plenty of information freely available about goal setting and planning.

I won’t reinvent the wheel, but would add that recording ONE goal that you’ll work towards, say, six months from now, is essential for success.

To reach that goal, make a list of related jobs for each day of the first week. Repeat this process at the beginning of week two, and so on.

That’s your step-by-step guide.

Follow your guide conscientiously.

“When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.” – Confucius

If a little is accomplished each day, week after week, you’ll soon see significant progress on the way to your destination.

Take time out monthly to celebrate the successes you’ve had.

NOW is the time to start taking action.

Empowerment comes from within.

It’s very empowering to choose for yourself what you want in life, and how you’ll work towards it. You discover that empowerment comes from within.

You are in control.

When you believe that you are the only one who can hold you back, wow! That’s empowerment!

The most wonderful thing about empowerment is the end result – you’ll become an extraordinary person because of the growth that has happened along the way, and the hard work you have put into creating a life you are excited about.

What’s next?

Well, that’s up to you.

Remember, your choices will either empower you, or disempower you.

Choose wisely.

Persevere.

The road will be steep. There’ll be obstacles to overcome. Keep your goals before you and imagine the life you want to lead, to keep you always on track.

What are you waiting for?

Have a clear focus. Read, listen, learn. Embrace change. Believe in yourself. Be confident. Take one step every day towards success.

Think BIG and you’ll behave BIG and achieve BIG.

To start the empowering process, I’ve prepared an Infographic based on ACCA for you to download and refer to frequently.

Do you believe that empowerment comes from inside you?

Maybe you’d like to share about your success and what has empowered you.

I invite you to share or leave a comment below.