The man and the woman said I do and they all lived happily ever after, right? Well wrong! Do not get me wrong, we all love a good love story to the point where we become somewhat naive to our surroundings. The media continues to portray important issues within our society in an ignorant way. Do we ever really get to know what happens after the “I do” in dramas, movies, and real life? Our media should be more focused on digging deeper into the real issues that the modern-day woman still endures. Being a woman in this generation has its perks but there are also great obstacles that we should overcome.

The modern-day woman is blessed with being able to attain an education. Centuries ago men were prioritised when it came to education. In other cultures, families prefer to educate the male than the female because the female is going to leave when she gets married. This means that only men are breadwinners or bring bacon home.

However, with the course of time women got the chance to get educated and have careers. I encourage all women to get an education if they can to empower themselves and bring home the bacon as well. We should flourish in our careers as much as our male counterparts. It may be challenging in terms of balancing the roles that we play both at home and at work.

If education is not for you then that is also okay because you can be an entrepreneur.
Starting a business can be daunting but it can be liberating too. Besides the fact that you will be having your own income, it becomes easier to balance because you will be your own boss. Having your own business is amazing because it can help you if you are single, and it can weather down the storm if your partner dies or loses his job. A business can also be a legacy for your children and even generations to come. So, ladies, whatever your story is you can make it so go ahead and get it!

Let us all face it, life is going to happen so we should be prepared for the inevitable. We have to be liberated because anything can happen at any time. Death never tells when it is coming and at times you can find yourself in a sticky situation.
In many cultures, properties are registered under the man thereby making him have an advantage. There also are cases where couples are not legally married meaning that if the husband or partner dies there would be inheritance disputes. I have witnessed this first hand, whereby the family of the deceased wants to take everything with them. Therefore I urge and insist that you must have a property under your name. Let us make sure that we weather all of our storms.

We all know that the company you keep is also important. If you surround yourself with people who think that chasing success as a woman is not important, you will end up thinking like that as well hence you have given before even getting started. You must strive to meet women who are in higher positions. These women have obviously started from the bottom like you. If you are around women like these all the time it will be easier for you to get great advice and even get amazing opportunities to empower yourself. So you must stay focused and get where you want to get by using your surroundings. You should also not forget about the next woman who is waiting for the ladder. Lead the next woman towards her goals as well.

As women, we must be united and build each other up. At the national level, we must make sure that all of us are represented in our parliaments. No one knows the struggle of a woman like another woman. All of the grievances that we face in our societies can be heard and alleviated if we have a lot of women who are representing us.

Today a career woman who has a certain qualification will not earn the same salary as the man who has the same qualification as she does. In many companies today a woman who is great at her work and is deserving of a promotion might not be considered for it because they assume that she cannot do it. I do believe that we are strong and capable of doing almost anything that is why there are female presidents and vice presidents today. Being denied chances continue to be an issue that should be addressed through representation. The truth is we are always lagging behind and we must find ways to catch up so that we can create great opportunities for ourselves. If we can stick together and earn what we deserve then anything is possible in life.

We all have different walks in life and some of us are not able to get a formal education. Learning a new skill is a great way to keep yourself afloat when a rainy day comes. There are some of us who are naturally good at doing something that earns you some decent money. There are others who need to acquire the skill and practise it. These skills include baking, cooking, designing, and many other skills.

I am positive that you can learn at least one skill that will be beneficial to your livelihood. It is also a bonus if you learn a skill that you will enjoy because your passion for it will grow. For each and every one of us, there is a skill out there that can change our lives. I have seen many women go far with just a set of a few skills. One skill is enough to take you places but others go beyond and learn a couple of skills so that they have at least one skill to fall back on. I am urging you to go out there and learn a skill that will change your life.

It is so important and vital that we support one another. In as much as we should pursue our dreams and make them come true, we must help one another to get there. We are all going through the same things so we must be each other’s support system. It is a shame that as women we at times tend to compete with one another and we do not support the hustle of the next woman. An army that is divided is easy to conquer so I think that if we are to go and get it we should do it as a team. It would be so good that if we are looking to partner with people or we are looking for services, we consider women first, not that the man will not do a great job but it is sisters before brothers, right? I really hope that we can hold up ladders for another. If we do this our gender will never be the same again.

All of the things that I have mentioned are possible to achieve, however, you must remember to be attentive to your surroundings and environment. Gender-based violence is a trend that seems to be here to stay. If you are in any kind of danger, make a safe escape plan that will be enough for you to start over and go out there and make it by yourself. It is possible and doable.

I hope that you will remember that in order for you to get where you want to must be willing to take risks. A lot of success stories out there begin with a lot of risks being taken. If you fail once please do try again because you never know the pot of gold until you open the lid. So I hope that this will push you towards taking action and paving the way for greater things to come towards you. The future and the next step is in your hands so I hope that you will make it count.

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