By JOHNNY CARCIOPPOLO / Community Columnist

How can you, as an individual, live the most empowered life possible? By working. Work to make a significant difference in this world. Focus on what you can control, which is your hope, your attitude, your drive, your willingness to hustle, your commitment to keeping an objective and empowered mindset.

1. Be open to possibilities. The more open you are to possibility, the more creative you become and the more expansive of a world you create for yourself to succeed in. If you live with a hopeless, angry or defeated attitude, then that will be what you live.
2. Focus on who you are. Focus on who you want to be in response to challenges. When you shift your focus onto yourself and wholeheartedly and non-violently live your answers, it is then that you are living a life of true authenticity and significance. Work quietly and let your success do the talking.
3. Run your own race. It’s your life, so focus on your race. Instead of worrying about the competition, focus on the ball that is directly in front of you. If you worry about the competition, what they are and aren’t doing, then you lose track of the importance of what you’re doing.
4. Trust yourself. Trust that you have what it takes to get the job done. Trust empowers you to move aggressively towards your goals. If you spend your time doubting your skills, the only thing you will be actively perfecting is your ability to doubt yourself. Your actions follow your thoughts. Shift all that time focusing on doubting yourself to believing in yourself.
5. Network. One of the smartest ways to move your mission forward is to network. Gather a team of people who have strengths to fill in where you have weaknesses. This allows you to delegate out to those who can best help you reach your goals.
6. Love what you do. Passion trumps failure. Love is the most powerful of all the emotions, which is why truly empowered people work in careers they love. There is nothing that can get in your way when you want something badly enough that you are willing do anything to get it.
7. Hold yourself with grace. Empowered and right action is the only thing which is inspires change. Have the self-discipline to have composure when face-to-face with haters. The one sure thing about haters is they hate you only until they want to be part of what you’re doing, so they can say they knew you. You stay the course on the road less traveled.
8. Embrace imperfect moments. The most empowered path to success comes through your experiences of failure. Failure and uncertainty are necessary structures for you to bump up against for the development of your own refinement. Without failure you would have nothing to improve upon.