As women we’ve been conditioned to hold back from being amazingly powerful.

If you’re anything like me, you have a lot of different responsibilities. It can be challenging to juggle the many “jobs” we hold in this world such as mom, a business owner, wife, partner, volunteer, friend and many others.

Sometimes it can feel a little overwhelming. Life is busy and full, which is great, but it can lead to a lot of stress or even feelings of not being in control.

As women we can easily fall into the trap of making mistakes which create the very stress that we try to avoid. But it doesn’t have to be that way. As women, it’s time we started to change the way that we’ve been conditioned to live our life and give ourselves the permission  to ask ourselves more often what we want and to do whatever it takes to make sure that we create the life we want. Will it be easy? No. Will you be tested? Yes.  But you’ve got what it takes.

If you ever take the time to observe smart and savvy successful women, as I have over the past few years, and ask them about their do’s and don’ts to making it happen,  you will notice a pattern to their success and empowerment. They each started out on a difficult journey but learned how to turn their challenges into opportunities.

I’ve personally interviewed many successful amazing women about their journey to living a life of their dreams and making a HUGE impact in the world.  There are 3 biggest traps these women make sure to avoid at all cost, given what they’ve learned, are these:

1. Doing it Alone.

As women, we are at our best when we collaborate with each other. The more we can come together for a common purpose, the greater the difference we can make together. Each woman’s journey is different and learning from each other by openly sharing our knowledge and wisdom is the key to helping each other grow to be the best we can be. Being in competition and worrying about someone being better than you is not going to serve you in the long term, nor anyone else. Instead focus on collaboration and how you can help each other move forward

2. Not Asking for Help.

As women, we already try to prove ourselves a lot, so if you want to make it happen and really live the life of your dreams, you have to ask for help and accept support when it’s given instead of going crazy from stress. Successful women who are living their dream lives know they don’t have all the answers and they are OK with not knowing everything. Instead, they surround themselves with the collective of other like-minded people who have the brain-trust and the resources to help them. They also believe that they deserve to receive the help and support which is why they make sure they invest in a number of mentors who’ve trekked the path they’re trekking.

3. Not Taking Care Of Yourself.

Again with the stress, women should strive for their bests, but not at the cost of their health. If you want to be able to look back on your life without regrets, knowing that you did the best you could, you need to look after yourself and contribute to yourself first. There should be no excuse for forgetting to look after yourself and not giving yourself a time out. Never underestimate the importance of personal quiet time to self-reflect and check-in with where you’re at. Self-reflection will give you clarity. And feeling guilty isn’t the reason to put yourself last. The more energy, time and care you give to yourself the more you can give to others. It’s simple as that. In reality, you’ll never have enough time. You have to create  time by scheduling self-care in your calendar, as the many successful women I’ve talked to have done.

So, if you’ve had days when you’ve felt exhausted or overwhelmed, or felt like you just weren’t making the kind of impact you wanted to make, and you want to avoid making the same mistakes over and over, then I invite you to surround yourself with those who want the same as you.

I’ll be hosting a FREE online event called The 2016 Empowered Woman Virtual Summit: Get Clear, Take Charge and Make it Happen! during which I will be interviewing powerful, world-changing women leaders who’ll share their personal stories of success and the specific strategies they use to take charge of their lives, and create amazing work in the world.  If you’re ready to step it up and take charge of your life, claim your spot now.

Suzi Petrozzi is a wellness psychologist + women’s empowerment coach. She teaches professional women who are at a crossroads how to get clear on what they want, take charge of their life and make it happen!  To subscribe to Suzi’s blogs visit her website at www.suzipetrozzi.com. 

This article was originally written for yourtango.com.