Cosmo Editors Ira Nopuente and Patricia Melliza spill the secret sauce ingredients in the latest episode of You Can Do This! the empowering podcast of Cosmo’s OG Editor-in-Chief Myrza Sison.
How do you make a difference in the world, your country, or even in your own circles? Do you need to be a superstar, a superwoman, or a genius? Not necessarily!
First, get inspired by Cosmopolitan’s 2023 Women of Influence featuring Filipinas who use their platforms and passions to harness their power to have a positive impact on the people and the world around them: Nadine Lustre, Isabelle and Ava Daza, Antoinette Jadaone, Samantha Lee, Rain Matienzo, Mela Habijan, and Frances Cabatuando.
Then, follow these tips on how you too, can become a woman of influence in your own way and in your own world. Happy influencing!
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Be yourself.
It's hard to have a goal if you don't know who you are. Ask yourself, certain questions like, what do I really want? What intrigues me? What are my boundaries? What are my strengths? You can write it all down on a piece of paper, and then from there, you can think about it. This is not an overnight process, of course. We believe that every day, a person can change who they are. So, just discover yourself. It’s a journey, just enjoy it. It’s not your end goal to “be yourself”—just go with the flow.
ADVERTISMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW ↓You have to be honest with yourself: Ako ba talaga Ito? Gusto ko ba talaga ito? When you become yourself, that's the time that you're open to trying different things and you discover what you like and don’t like. Being honest with yourself also makes you happy. It gives you peace of mind because you're being genuine.
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Find your purpose.
When you know your purpose, you're more driven, you have more hugot, and from there, you can do so many things. The possibilities are endless. You may not know your purpose at the onset, but it can evolve out of your interests and passions. We think that early on, Cosmo’s Women of Influence had a sense of, "This is what I’m meant to do," and because they were passionate about their interests, things developed naturally into discovering what they could do for their communities.
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Connect with others.
Don't be afraid to out there and make a new friend. You can learn so much from each new person you meet and your perspective will broaden. For example, Cosmo Woman of Influence Frances Lim Cabatuando just started a Facebook group in 2021, and since then, her community has expanded to three million followers. So, it really starts with just that small step of reaching out to just one person. Just keep trying, no matter how intimidating it can be to put yourself out there. The more you do it, the less scary it gets. Use your natural curiosity to learn about others, enjoy every interaction, and be present so you won’t even remember to think about how others are judging you. People are too busy thinking about themselves to have time to judge you. Practice talking to others in the mirror, to your pet, or with the barista. Pretend you’re the main character in a movie every time you enter a room.
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Pick your battles.
You don’t have to make sawsaw into every issue. If you’re an expert in a certain topic, by all means, share your wisdom with others, and share your passion. But if you’re not sure about that, it's okay to take a pause. Observe things first before you say or do something. You have to be aware of your actions, and what you say. Hindi kailangang sumugod agad. It’s okay to let others go ahead of you, there's nothing wrong with that, and you can also learn from that other person's experience. If you try to target everything, it’s hard to achieve something. If you react to everything, sometimes it just becomes noise and not influence.
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Go back to No.1.
It’s not a step-by-step or linear process, but a circular thing. It's really a journey that actually never ends. So, rinse, recalibrate, and repeat!
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Get to know these Cosmo Women of Influence more intimately through Myrza’s You Can Do This! interviews: Antoinette Jadaone, Kylie Verzosa, and Bianca Gonzales.
Stream and follow Myrza on Spotify, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast fix.
