With Life's Challenges Mother Knows Best.

• Position: EMPOWERMENT

Women have faced many challenges throughout history, and the list is long of those who overcame adversity and became influential, inspirational figures. Often, though, a young girl does not have to read about famous females to find her heroes. Her mother's actions while overcoming challenges and taking care of the family can influence and even help transform that daughter's thinking well into her adult life.

Among the main life lessons that Betty Ng learned from her mother was that adversity can strengthen, shape, and liberate you to do important things and bring people together. "Anything is possible, regardless of your background, as long as we help each other to succeed," says Ng, CEO of Inspiring Diversity, LLC, New York, and author of Po-Ling Power: Propelling Yourself and Others to Success.

Ng's mother, Po-ling, was widowed and left to raise four young children. She earned two master's degrees, became devoted to the community, and was honored by the Chinese government for her work. She became her daughter's inspiration in the process.

Now, Ng focuses on the ability of people to inspire and lift each other to achieve goals. She offers six tips to women about empowering themselves and inspiring others:

Set priorities. "These are individually defined and should also take into consideration your personal vision and passions. Its critical to align what you do or plan to do with your personal vision. This is how you find your authentic self."

Turn focus to others. As you make progress on becoming your best self, the focus can shift to finding ways to elevate others. "You should think about...