The Empowerment Equation: How We Build (or Block) Our Own Growth
- Curtis Taylor
- Nov 12
- 3 min read
Most people can tell you how many hours are in a day. But far fewer can tell you how many are in a week: 168.
That number matters, because how you use those 168 hours determines the shape of your life — not instantly, but over months and years. The days you want rarely appear out of nowhere. They’re built, hour by hour, through clarity, courage, and consistency.
Time passes no matter what you do — but if you’re intentional, that time compounds. If you’re reactive, it evaporates.
What Empowerment Really Means
Empowerment isn’t about having control over everything. It’s about increasing your capacity to create change where you can — in your thinking, your relationships, your habits, your direction.
Authentic empowerment is built on three simple but demanding ingredients:
Clarity: knowing what matters most
Courage: acting in alignment with those values, even when it’s uncomfortable
Consistency: doing it again tomorrow
These aren’t personality traits — they’re practices. When you combine them with time — showing up across seasons, setbacks, and self-doubt — you start to see real movement.
The Hidden Math of Growth
As a counselor, educator, and founder, I’ve watched the same pattern play out: people want progress, but something invisible keeps dividing their efforts.
That’s where the Empowerment Equation comes in:
Empowerment = (Clarity + Courage + Consistency) ÷ Self-Protection
Self-protection is the quiet denominator in all of us — the instinct that tries to keep us safe by keeping us small. It’s not evil; it’s old. It’s the learned voice that says, “Yeah, but…” every time growth gets close.
“Yeah, but what if I fail?” “Yeah, but people will judge me.” “Yeah, but last time hurt.”
The more self-protection runs the show, the more our effort gets divided. When it softens — through reflection, counseling, or real safety — our numerator finally multiplies freely again.
How to See Where You Are
You can actually score your empowerment just like trust.
Variable | Scale (1–5) |
Clarity | I know what I’m working toward |
Courage | I act even when I’m afraid |
Consistency | I follow through on commitments |
Self-Protection | I resist growth because it feels unsafe |
Add the first three and divide by your self-protection score. The closer your result is to 5, the stronger your empowerment. The closer to 1, the more your fear or stress is steering the wheel.
You don’t need to calculate it perfectly. Just notice the ratios. Does your effort multiply — or does fear divide it?
The Real Work of Empowerment
Empowerment isn’t a slogan or a vibe. It’s a discipline.
It asks for honesty about where you’re protecting yourself — and compassion for why. It honors that trauma can distort the equation, but healing can rewrite it.
Every week gives you another 168 hours to practice :to clarify your direction, act with courage, and follow through again. And to gently remind the fearful parts of you they no longer need to run the math.
That’s empowerment — not instant, not perfect, but earned, over time.
Author’s Note
At Authentic Wellness & Empowerment, we teach and practice Trauma-Informed Empowerment — helping people reduce self-protection, reclaim their time, and grow clarity, courage, and consistency. Because life is supposed to be lived, not just survived — 168 hours at a time.