Empowerment concepts that help women break barriers are supposed to feel like rocket fuel, but for me they’ve mostly felt like someone handed me a rocket with no instructions and also it’s leaking. I’m writing this from my couch in Faridabad at like 11 something in the morning (wait no it’s January 2026 already?? time is broken), wearing the same hoodie I’ve had on for three days, there’s chai cooling on the side table and my mother just yelled from the kitchen asking why I’m still in pyjamas. Normal Sunday. Anyway.
I’ve been trying these “empowerment concepts” on and off for… god, years now. Sometimes they click. Sometimes I end up googling “is it normal to hate yourself after reading Brene Brown”. It’s a spectrum.
The Part Where I Thought Empowerment Concepts Would Fix Me Overnight
2023–2024 was rough. Job was soul-crushing, salary was insulting, every other LinkedIn post was some woman in athleisure saying she “bet on herself” and now runs a seven-figure business from her balcony. Meanwhile I was eating Maggi at 2 a.m. wondering if I was just allergic to success.
So I did what any slightly desperate person does: I bought the books, saved the reels, made a Notion page called “Become Unstoppable 2025”. Very serious.
First concept I tried was “claim your space”. Sounds powerful. In practice I stood taller in meetings, spoke slower, made eye contact… for about eleven minutes until a male colleague interrupted me with “sorry to cut in but—” and my brain just blue-screened. Went right back to shrinking.
Still, some bits stuck. Like the idea that boundaries aren’t rude—they’re survival. I practiced saying “I can’t take that on right now” exactly once. My manager blinked like I’d grown horns. I immediately apologised in follow-up email. Classic.
Times I Completely Fumbled Empowerment Concepts That Help Women Break Barriers
Let’s just list them because there are too many to paragraph nicely.
- Tried “visualisation” before an important call. Pictured myself confident and articulate. Instead spent the whole meeting saying “uhhh” and accidentally shared my screen with my embarrassing desktop background (a collage of cats wearing sunglasses).
- Did the “power pose” in the bathroom before a family function. Came out feeling like Wonder Woman. Then tripped over my own dupatta in front of like twenty aunties.
- Decided to “own my story” and told a friend about getting passed over for promotion. She said “maybe you’re not ready yet”. I cried for two days straight and then ate an entire family pack of ice cream. Empowerment win? Debatable.
I’m not saying these concepts are bad. I’m saying I’m bad at them sometimes. And that’s allowed, apparently.
Things That Actually Kinda Worked (With Caveats)
Here’s the honest list, typos and all:
- Micro-no’s. Saying no to one tiny thing a day. Like “no I won’t check email after 9 pm”. Revolutionary. Still relapse every third day.
- Writing the ugly thoughts down instead of letting them live rent-free in my head. Turns out seeing “I’m not good enough” on paper makes it look… smaller. Stupid.
- Finding one person who gets it. For me it’s my cousin in Bangalore who also works in tech and we just send each other voice notes at 1 a.m. going “this is bullshit right?”. That’s therapy with worse audio quality.
- Accepting that progress looks like two steps forward, one step sideways into a wall, then maybe one step back to cry, then another forward while eating chips.
If you want less chaotic takes, this piece from The Cut about how “empowerment” sometimes just means more pressure on women is painfully accurate: https://www.thecut.com/article/women-empowerment-fatigue.html
And this short video from Jamila Lyiscott on “3 ways to speak English” made me realise how much energy I spend code-switching at work: https://www.ted.com/talks/jamila_lyiscott_3_ways_to_speak_english
Where I Am Right Now (Spoiler: Still a Work in Progress)
Empowerment concepts that help women break barriers haven’t turned me into a CEO with a TED Talk. They’ve just made me a little bit louder, a little bit less apologetic, and a lot more willing to admit when I’m struggling.
I still second-guess myself constantly. I still compare. I still have days where I want to delete every social media app and move to a village with no WiFi. But I also have days where I send that email I was scared to send, or I tell someone “actually I deserve better than this”, or I just decide that today I’m going to wear the loud earrings and not explain myself.
