3 Ways to Celebrate International Women’s Day

International Women’s Day is celebrated on Sunday, March 8, 2020. It is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women's equality.

This year’s theme is #EachforEqual and recognizes a “collective individualism” that is necessary to advance women’s equality and close gender gaps in business, sports, media, and leadership.

Collective individualism means that we’re all part of the whole. Each of us is part of something bigger than ourselves, and our individual actions, mindsets, and behaviors make a difference. We can each do our part to make the world a better place for women and close those gender gaps.

Gloria Steinem said, "The story of women's struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist nor to any one organization but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights."

It’s up to each of us to do our part to celebrate the achievements of women, challenge absurd organizational barriers, and advance women’s equality. Together, we rise.

Here are 3 ways you can celebrate International Women’s Day:

1. Choose Your Thoughts Wisely

The way we think about ourselves is a key factor in our success. For many of us, we’ve been listening to our inner critic for far too long. That nasty voice in your head that tells you you’re not good enough to do the thing you want to do is stealing your confidence.

And if we feel hopeless about our own situation, we can start to believe that gender equality won’t be a reality for us.

Our thoughts are powerful. They can keep us in a fear cycle, or they can propel us to make positive change in our lives. Imagine what would be possible for your life if you took control of the narrative in your head. Reframing your thoughts is a simple (but not easy) way to shift your mindset to celebrate your success and the success of all women.

The BE YOU Mental Model serves as a self-coaching tool that you can use to train your mind (I talk more about this in my free confidence mini course). You can use this model to stop thinking negative thoughts, to combat fear, overwhelm and doubt, and even to improve your interpersonal relationships.

This is a well-known model in the field of psychology and in the law of attraction. The model teaches us that our beliefs about something create emotions. Those emotions in turn elicit behaviors. And we all know that every behavior has a consequence, or effect.  Our beliefs create emotions, which create behaviors, which create effects.

The power of this model is that our beliefs are actually reinforced by the effects, or the results we get. If we believe that we can get a raise at work, then we’re going to behave in such a way that gives us that result. That result will then reinforce our belief that we are worthy of a raise. On the other hand, if we believe that we can’t get a raise, we’ll behave in such a way that prevents us from getting a raise, and as a result, we’ll continue to believe we’re not good enough.

Using this model helps you reframe negative situations by allowing you to see patterns in your thoughts, emotions and behaviors. It helps you understand why you react negatively in certain situations and walks you through creating a better option. You can download a workbook that helps you with these thoughts in my free mini course.

This model also helps you make positive change for women. Believing in the possible is one way you can make a difference in your own life, and in turn, make a difference for women everywhere.

2. Take Powerful Action

Confidence and clarity come from taking action. Once you shift your mindset to believing that closing these gender pay gaps is possible, it’s important to take powerful action to support women.

One way you can take action is by mentoring a woman. Mentorship is critical to young leaders’ success because it provides the opportunity for women to expand their perspective, build social capital, be politically and organizationally savvy, and build the courage and confidence necessary to take on new opportunities or speak up in meetings.

Mentorship shouldn’t be limited to monthly meetings where you share stories of your experience and how you got to where you are now. The power in mentorship lies in sponsorship, advocacy and alignment. This means nominating your mentee for a new committee at work, publicly praising or acknowledging her accomplishments, and understanding her strengths to best position her for roles that will lead to advancement.

You can also get involved in your community or contribute to an organization that supports women. Your money has more power than you know. Where you choose to spend your money speaks volumes about who you are as an individual and what you care about in the world.

Think about how you’d like to make a difference for women: is it supporting women-owned businesses and start-ups, ending domestic violence, contributing to the education of marginalized women, or empowering young girls? Look for organizations that focus on advocacy and creating opportunities for women and girls.

I partner with a local organization called Empowered Women International. Since 2002, Empowered Women International has provided business training, mentoring and support in the Washington DC area to help immigrant, refugee and low-income women turn their creative or cultural assets, artistic abilities and skills into successful businesses.

At the end of their 3-month program, the women can enroll in my 6-week confidence training program, The Confidence Cure. The program is completely free for participants as part of my Woman for Woman mission, and it provides the mindset and behavior training needed for women to take their business ideas and make them a reality.

No matter if you take action to help one woman or one hundred women, your action creates a ripple effect that impacts women globally. Your action inspires powerful action in others, and collectively, we can make the world a better place for women.

3. Advocate for Organizational Change

According to a study by LendEDU, organizations across the country have made progress in closing the gender pay gap over the last ten years. But we still have a long way to go to achieve parity. Having the courage to challenge organizational norms and advocate for organizational change is one way you can contribute to women’s equality this International Women’s Day.

Let’s start with wage transparency. This could look like presenting salary ranges in the initial interview or on posted job descriptions, or it could look like publishing the salaries of top leaders in your company. Wage transparency helps close the gender pay gap because it allows everyone in the organization to identify disparities within teams and departments. It also allows women to have better negotiation conversations because it gives us a more realistic idea of salary ranges and other benefits.

Next, promote women and promote women. I’m talking about actually promoting women to higher ranks within an organization. And, I’m talking about advocating for women at the same time. Women need to know we have more options in the workplace. We need to see other women being promoted into leadership roles. And, it’s important to demystify pay inequity instead of pretending it’s a non-issue. Organizations who do well in this area set solid goals for achieving parity at the highest levels and ensure that every manager works to meet those goals.

Third, organizations must emphasize learning on diversity, equity and inclusion. This goes beyond knowing that women make, on average, 77 cents for every male dollar. In reality, it’s more complex than that. Women of color make even less, and they face additional workplace stereotypes that white women don’t. Women of color are often not afforded the same opportunities as white women; opportunities for higher education or mentorship or leadership roles. And this is often ignored because many organizations don’t realize it’s not just a white issue. It’s time to change that mentality and include all women and those who identify as women.

Finally, if there’s no room at the table, bring your own chair. If your organization is not transparent about wages or does not promote women or refuses to address workplace diversity and inclusion. It’s time to step up or step out. Consider how you could advocate for women’s rights by promoting women on your team, encouraging women to make the big ask for an increase in pay, mentoring women in your field, or empowering women by showing them a better way or another option. If all else fails, it may be time to consider a new organization altogether.

The Takeaway

To make a positive difference for women’s equality, we each need to do our part to recognize and celebrate women. We must shift our mindsets, change our behaviors, and challenge ourselves to take positive action for ourselves and women everywhere.

Take action now: Think about how you can be part of the #EachforEqual movement. What are the limiting beliefs you need to change about yourself? What actions can you take to support women in your community? How can you advocate for positive change in your organization?

While one simple action, like mentoring a woman, can seem so small, it truly has a ripple effect. Impacting even one woman’s life has the power to change her worldview. In turn, she’ll make positive change in her own life and will be more likely to help another woman succeed. If each of us did our part to help one woman this International Women’s Day, we would get closer to closing the gender gaps and making the world a better place for women. Because if every woman truly lived her purpose, every need in the world would be met.

How will you be part of #EachforEqual this International Women’s Day? Let me know in the comments!