Sarah Childress is an intern from Samford University.
This month we interviewed Dr. Sharon Melnick on the Momentum Matters podcast. Dr. Melnick is an author and global authority for her work developing women’s leadership and confidence skills. Melnick has trained over 40,000 professionals worldwide, including Momentum women, and has authored three books. Her most recent book, titled In Your Power, empowers women to reclaim their voice and create a culture of lasting impact.
Melnick began her career in clinical psychology. During her postdoctoral research at Harvard Medical, she researched intergenerational issues and explored the ways in which the cyclical nature of familial trauma can be brought into society. Similar to a broken family, many people resonate with the experience of feeling powerless. Rather than succumbing to the mental distress of feeling perpetually reactive, hopeless, or insignificant, Melnick encourages women to reclaim their power.
When someone is not in their power, she describes how they are akin to a thermometer. In this state, the person has little control over her emotions or mindset. Thermometers simply measure and react to their climate– they are unable to create their own experience. Menick encourages women to be a thermostat, not a thermometer. When a woman is in her power, she is able to act like a thermostat and set the temperature instead. When a woman is in her power, she is the creator of her own story and an encouragement to others in the process.
There is frequently a negative connotation to power. Women in particular associate power with egotism or an abusive force. Dr. Melnick makes the distinction that someone can be in a position of power and yet not be in their own real power. Some people refer to this as “power over” instead of “power to.” A woman in her power handles situations with poise and respect. She is able to adjust to evolving circumstances with confidence, resilience, and empathy.
We have more power than we may realize. Dr. Melnick encourages women to become more acclimated to this amended definition of power, and its accompanying sense of agency. She offers the following practical advice to help women take their power back:
- In a difficult situation, differentiate what you can and cannot control.
- Whenever you focus on the 50% outside of your control, you are leaking your power.
- Instead, focus all 100% of your energy on the 50% that you can control.
- Shift your mindset to how this difficult situation might be happening for you and not to you
Going forward, think like a thermostat instead of a thermometer. We all have the power to be the authors of our own stories and leave a positive impact on the lives of others in the process.
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