Every single woman wants to be a strong woman, and yet, few seem to achieve it. The strength required doesn’t have anything to do with body power or an unbreakable mind. To be as powerful as you want, most of all, you need courage. Courage to know yourself, to speak your mind, to make your presence noticed and respected.
7 signs that you are a strong woman
It’s hard being a woman, and not only because of social discrimination. Women struggle the most to balance their careers and their families, and they are constantly submitted to strong sources of stress. Even their bodies have a harder time recovering at night and they require more hours of sleep.
When everything seems to be against them, though, that’s when the most powerful women will come out unscathed or even better prepared.
Check out below 7 signs that you might be a strong woman too.
You accept criticism
A strong woman knows she is not flawless and recognizes there is always room for improvement. Any criticism is welcomed because they do not see it as an attack or as a way to undermine their confidence.
They are already so sure about themselves, that these negative thoughts don’t even cross their minds. Criticism is instead looked upon as an opportunity for improvement.
You can be independent
You might prefer to do activities with other people, to be in love and share your home with someone, to prepare big meals to share with your friends, to always be engaged in group projects. However, the keyword here is “prefer”.
A strong woman doesn’t need other people to move on with her life and do fun activities. She can perfectly eat by herself, go to the movies alone and even feel so comfortable alone at home that she might not even think of getting a pet.
The point is: she can be independent if she wants to.
You own your opinions
A woman who trusts herself makes her own mind about every situation and has opinions of her own. She is also not afraid to speak them out even if she suspects that others might disagree.
Instead of trying to hide her feelings and thoughts to avoid criticism, she puts them out and expects the criticism. She doesn’t mind people disagreeing with her and she listens carefully to their reasons as to re-assess her own position and evolve as a person.
A strong woman has confidence in her thoughts, but also knows that no one is perfect or detains full knowledge of the world. One can only evolve through the dialogue between different perspectives.
You’re not afraid to ask
A woman who believes in herself is not afraid to ask for help, for a clarification, for anything.
Asking is often perceived as a sign of weakness, that you weren’t able to perform something without needing the support of others. But it’s precisely the opposite.
For a woman to admit that she needs help requires a lot of courage. She is recognizing her flaws and weaknesses but instead of hiding them, she takes the leap and looks for ways to complement these areas where she is lacking. She is willing to learn and to listen to what others have to say in order to evolve and get things done.
You trust your intuition, reasonably
Intuition is the ability to understand, know or have a particular feeling about something without any proof or conscious reasoning.
There is no explanation for intuition, but it is believed that it is a subconscious process, in which the brain spots something and sends the alarm. However, the thought never rises to the conscious mind and you are left without knowing what was that the brain picked.
Women are especially known for their keen intuition but only the strong ones know how to take advantage of it.
Instead of dismissing it, they take notice of it and value that their brains might have picked on something. Therefore, when it comes to evaluating a decision or a situation, they keep their intuition in mind when listening to the advice of others.
You’re not afraid to cry
No one is a rock. Women have feelings and doubts. They feel pain like everyone else. What distinguishes a strong woman is the capacity to understand this.
It requires courage to admit that one is in pain, anxious, lonely, insecure. It is much easier to put up a hard face than it is to recognize that one has weaknesses too and that sometimes you need support too.
You love yourself
“Love yourself” is one of the most common bits of advice given to anyone and women hear it more frequently even.
But as positive as this message may be, only a strong woman can achieve it.
There is nothing harder than loving yourself because there are no secrets. You know all your flaws in detail, you can’t hide your darkest thoughts and feelings. You know your lies, your insecurities, your story.
15 best strong woman quotes
Do you see yourself as a strong woman or did these signs inspire you to be better and more powerful?
No woman is born strong. They grow, they experience happiness, pain, disappointment, exhilaration, love, tears and with each step, they come to know more and more about themselves. It is impossible to be a strong woman if you don’t know who you are in the first place.
If you still need something to give you the extra motivation to go on, check out the quotes below, mostly from strong women themselves and notice how they tend to always mention the hard times that took them where they were then.
1. Diane Von Furstenberg
“The girls who were unanimously considered beautiful often rested on their beauty alone. I felt I had to do things, to be intelligent and develop a personality in order to be seen as attractive. By the time I realized maybe I wasn’t plain and might even possibly be pretty, I had already trained myself to be a little more interesting and informed.”
2. Audrey Hepburn
“What is in other people’s minds is not in my mind. I just do my thing.”
3.
“A strong woman understands that the gifts such as logic, decisiveness, and strength are just as feminine as intuition and emotional connection. She values and uses all of her gifts.”
4. Oprah Winfrey
“I was once afraid of people saying ‘Who does she think she is?’ Now I have the courage to stand and say, ‘This is who I am.”
5. Coco Chanel
“A girl should be two things: who and what she wants.”
6. Mary Tyler Moore
“You can’t be brave if you’ve only had wonderful things happen to you.”
7. Elizabeth Cady Stanton
“The best protection any woman can have … is courage.”
8. Marie Curie
“Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and, above all, confidence in ourselves. We must believe we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.”
9. Janis Joplin
“Don’t compromise yourself. You are all you’ve got. There is no yesterday, no tomorrow, it’s all the same day.”
10. Judy Garland
“Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.”
11. Anaïs Nin
“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.”
12. Gina Carey
“A strong woman looks a challenge in the eye and gives it a wink.”
13. Stephanie Bennett Henry
“Life is tough, my darling, but so are you.”
14. Ethel Barrymore
“You grow up the day you have your first real laugh at yourself.”
15. R.H. Sin
“The most dangerous woman of all is the one who refuses to rely on your sword to save her because she carries her own.”
