My key to obtaining Renaissance Black Woman status

My key to obtaining
Renaissance Black Woman status

Labels: RBW empowerment

***Note this will always and forever remain on the first post so that new visitors on the verge of becoming a Renaissance Black Woman have access to the first step it takes to get there. For more recent posts scroll down and/or the Previous Posts section in the sidebar.

MAY 2007

Back in college at North Carolina A&T State University... AGGIE PRIDE! One of my professors handed out an article that the Editor-in-Chief of Essence Magazine, Ms. Susan L. Taylor wrote in August 1995. The article was called "What are your intentions?" After reading the article, the assignment was to write a Personal Goal Essay. I immediately thought about this assignment a couple months ago when I was trying to decide what I really wanted to do with my life. I have worked in radio, television, production, news, and now in sports and I was sort of feeling that at my age I should start focusing on one thing. But after speaking with Ms. Helen Little, (a guru in the Radio industry) at a NABFEME event, I realized that I dont have to focus on one thing, and that I can do it all, but the key to that is writing it all down first. Reflecting back on those goals, and making sure you are making steps towards achieving them. I regret that I cant find the paper I wrote back in college, to see if I am where I thought I was going to be at this time in my life. Nevertheless, I have done the assignment all over and I encourage all my other Renaissance Black Women out there to do the same.

What are your intentions?
What are your hopes for the future? What kind of life do you envision yourself living five to ten years from now? Do you see yourself as happy and whole? Are you striving or struggling? Do you have rich and satisfying relationships? Are you productive and contributing to our cause? One thing we can be sure of is that our lives will be different tomorrow from what they are today. Life moves forward, and change is guaranteed. If we think critically about the future we want, we can lay the foundation for it and do the work that will make our dreams real. We can make change an ally rather than an adversary. If we know where we want to go, we can create our map for getting there. But without a goal or a plan, we may wander aimlessly for years. Without something specific to act on, we react to everything, waste our time and frustrate ourselves. As our elders so wisely counsel: If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

We all want a better life for ourselves. We all want to feel productive, prosperous, and secure. But often the energy we need to create the future we hope for is given to worthless pursuits, or to needless worry and fear. All the good things we desire are within our reach, though they may be sitting in the blind spots of our own bad habits and anxiety.

What are my intentions? This is the most important question we must ask and answer for ourselves. In order to feel valid, confidant, and at peace, we must live authentically. We must design a life that is in harmony with the truth of who we are. Often in my travels I hear folks say, "I hate my job, but it's a living." A job is more than a living: it's our life's work, what we give to God for the gift of our lives. Work is love made manifest. Whatever you love doing is the work you were created to do. God didn't create us to flounder in any situation that underutilizes our strengths and talents, but rather to take charge of our circumstances and encourage ourselves to grow.

Give a gift of love to yourself by scheduling quiet time alone - time to focus on where you're going, to make sure your intentions are in accord with who you are. You'll make yesterday's fantasies into tomorrow's reality by working toward set goals today. Know your intentions. Declare them! Your word is part of your plan. Speak it, if only to yourself, then follow it through to fruition.

For years I said I wanted to own my own home, but I didn't take the necessary steps - sitting down and figuring out why I had no savings, and making some hard but worthwhile decisions - to make my dream come true. Once I made my intention clear and reminded myself of it every day, I found it easier to forgo purchases of the trendy and expensive clothes I was addicted to. I cut up any charge cards that didnt demand full payment each month, ate more of my meals at home and brought my lunch to work. In a couple of years I had the deed to my new home in my hand.

Self-mastery begins with making your intentions clear and understanding that the only limitations are those we devise in our mind. There is always something we can do to change an undesirable situation, because God has given us the power to choose. And that, in large measure, is the miracle of life and what we are here to discover.

Write an essay on your personal goals, short and long range. Explain tasks you have performed, or will perform in order to achieve these goals. Define practical experience that will get you where you want to be. Explain your strategy for obtaining these goals.


All the best,
Ebonne