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Empowerment and Depowerment - think different, be different
Based on Hopson B & Scally M Lifeskills Teaching;
McGraw Hill
We are as we are because of how we think. To be different we must think
different. The following table gives examples of the ways of thinking of people
who are more or less empowered.
More Empowered
|
Less Empowered
|
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Open to change |
Closed to change |
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Assertive |
Non-assertive or aggressive |
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Proactive |
Reactive |
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Self-accountable |
Blames others |
|
Self-directed |
Other-directed |
|
Uses feelings |
Overwhelmed by or fails to recognise feelings |
|
Learns from mistakes |
Debilitated by mistakes |
|
Confronts |
Avoids |
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Lives more in the present |
Past or future-orientated |
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Realistic |
Unrealistic |
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Thinks relatively |
Thinks in absolutes |
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Sees alternatives |
Tunnel vision |
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Develops commitments |
Keeps obligations |
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Likes self |
Dislikes self |
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Values others |
Negates others |
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Alert to others' needs |
Selfish |
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Interested in the world -
Enhances other people's lives. |
Self-centred -
Restricts the lives of others. |
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Balanced life-style |
One arena of life developed
to the exclusion of others |
If you are empowered you choose what happens in your reactions with other
people and the world in general – you have a feeling of being, at least to
some extent, in control of your life. If you are depowered you feel helpless,
shut-out and apathetic.
The following table lists some of the ways in which we can empower or depower
ourselves:
We can empower ourselves by:
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We can depower ourselves by:
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- being clear about what we want to achieve and how we might make it
happen
- seeing ourselves as others see us and staying open to change
- developing skills so that we can make changes
- noticing when our feelings show that there is a difference between
what is and what we think ought to be and acting accordingly
- focussing on realistic goals
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- deciding we "can’t" without thinking about why not and
then looking for alternatives
- being inward looking and tied to tradition
- not developing a wide range of skills and therefore having to rely
on other people
- believing that we can do nothing to change our situation or
ourselves
- trying to do too much and being unfocussed
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| If you are distressed by
anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your
estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.
[Marcus Aurelius] |
Let no man imagine that he
has no influence. Whoever he may be, and wherever he may be placed, the
man who thinks becomes a light and a power. [Henry George] |
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