Humans have the capacity to choose what they think and how they respond. However, they also have subconscious programmed responses formed in childhood, often inherited from their parents. For example, when a new idea is presented to you, your automatic first response is to see all the things wrong with the idea and why it won’t work. Fortunately, you have learned to recognize and bracket that response so you can see what might be beneficial in the idea and discover it’s just what you’ve been looking for. Being conscious of old unhelpful patterns enables you to change them. That’s empowerment.