As women, we often get side-tracked when we are on our journey to success. We sometimes try to achieve our goals in the quickest way possible. Sometimes slow and steady wins the race. We often get caught up in what we can accomplish and our success, but we do not see other women's success.

When we are achieving our goals, we often see other women as competitors, and we feel the need to tear them down instead of building each other up. That needs to end immediately. We need more strong women in this world, and that cannot be accomplished if we keep tearing each other down.

Since kindergarten, I have always been told to keep my head high because girls are mean. Why do we allow that to be a normal statement? Why do we have to be mean? People are going to say things that will bring you down, people are going to say things that piss you off and people are going to doubt your ability to achieve certain goals.

I have seen multiple instances in which men have said they want to do something and other men respond by saying cool, good luck or something that is positive. I have personally experienced countless times where I have said I wanted to do something and have had a female peer say that I will never accomplish it. I know for sure I will be less likely to accomplish what I want to because I was just told that it is something impossible for me to do.

When I was a senior in high school, I was sitting in math class (my worst subject), and I could not figure out how to do one of the problems. The girl next to me knew that I was looking to go away to college and when I was struggling with the problem she told me, "If you can't even do high school math, you will never make it at a university." I am a sophomore in college with above a 3.0, and I am doing perfectly fine at a university. Instead of trying to help me learn, she told me I would never be able to succeed.

I do not understand why we choose to compete, shame and degrade each other as women. I am not perfect. I have said my fair share of hurtful words. We somehow get a certain spark through our body to know that we boost our self-confidence by tearing down someone else's, but what most people don't know is that the spark when you build someone up electrocutes you. Building someone up makes both parties feel amazing. Why do we get defensive when someone is succeeding? Why are we not happy for them? I will leave those questions for you to think about. Don't we want more strong successful women in our world?

A major key to our success is that we have to stop calling each other sluts. Some of us are promiscuous and some of us are not. Some of us wear revealing clothing while some of us choose to stay covered up. Some of us are flirty and some of us are not. Who cares?

We often hear someone sleeps around, and we judge them. If that is what she wants to do, good for her. If you choose to only sleep with one person, good for you. I see millions of articles about how men are so degrading to women, when in reality, we are degrading to each other too. The female population has made degrading names acceptable in our society because of how often we use them on each other.

If I were to record the amount of times I have been called a slut in the past year, at least 98 percent would be from women calling me a slut. When a girl calls another girl a slut, it is funny and not seen as something terrible. But when a man calls a woman a slut, all hell breaks loose because that is when everyone agrees woman's sexual activities are her own choice. Do you see the problem?

Women have to stick together. We have to be the first ones to build each other up to set the standard. In life, we need help. We often feel as if we have to do everything for ourselves to show our strength rather than asking for help from someone else.

Instead of tearing someone down, build them up no matter how big their goal is. Support the women around you. Help them when they need help. Ask for help when you need help. Do not degrade the girl in the mini-skirt and low-cut top; do not degrade the girl who wears clothes that keep her completely covered.

Let the women around you live the life they want to live. If you shame them for something they are doing, they will not stop, but it will impact their self-esteem negatively. Let's make a pact and support the women around us and help them make their dreams a reality. It is nice to succeed but it is even more amazing to help someone else succeed.