5 Steps To Be Empowered At Work

Here’s your checkoff list to become empowered in your profession:

1. Create empowering beliefs

Your beliefs create your results.  To paraphrase Henry Ford’s observation: “If you think you can, you can … if you think you can’t, you can’t!  Either way, you’re right.”  I would prefer to be right on the side of “I think I can.”  If you’re blaming things on not enough staff, no support from management, not enough time to complete the tasks and such, that’s exactly what you are creating.

Instead, create more empowering beliefs such as “how can I create a better supportive relationship with management?  How can I streamline my work flow to have more time to do what I need to do?  How can I best work with the staff that we have?”

2. Shift your perspective

When you believe that you don’t have enough staff, enough time or enough support, you have no control.  Instead, if you take the position that you DO have control over these things and that you’re doing the best you can with what you have, you will feel more empowered.

When you feel like you have control, you then have a choice which means there is freedom.  You can decide to either work in that environment or not.  The choice is yours.

3. Be present in the moment

The only time that we have is right now.  Know the task at hand and focus on what needs to be done in this moment.  Thinking about what has happened in the past just creates unnecessary worry.  Thinking about what needs to be done in the future creates not only unnecessary worry but also anxiety.  And the future isn’t even here yet.

The only moment we have is now so just be present and focused to do your best on the chore you are dealing with.

4. Know your value

Nurses tend to get their value externally which means that when they do a great job for a patient or get a compliment from their supervisor, they feel they are valued.

However, value really needs to come from the inside.  If you know how valued you are, you will shine and others will also see your value.

5. Be a lifelong learner

This goes without saying.  I suggest not only learning about nursing skills and critical thinking but to learn about yourself.  You are the most interesting person there is and it’s exciting when you get new “aha’s” and insights about yourself.

These are just some of the small shifts in the way you look at things that can make a huge difference in the way you feel about yourself and your job.  Today, try to pick one little thing from the list above and see what impact it makes.  I would love to hear how it went.  Please leave your comments below.