There are some incredible female game changers in this world.
From women I follow to the mentors in my life, I’ve been inspired to pay-it-forward and become a female executive myself. While I’ve had these ambitions I’ve also questioned if I was 'good enough', 'smart enough', or 'experienced enough'. After researching this topic further and speaking to other women in my network, I’m clearly not alone. So, what gives?!
A Harvard Business Review article published in 2019 states that women’s career confidence
equaled men once they reached their 40’s. The article also describes that while women were
ranked highly in various leadership skills, when asked to rate themselves they were “not as
generous” in the rankings. And lastly, when compared to male counterparts, women are less
likely to apply for a position if they did not meet the majority of qualifications.
This report is quite an interesting phenomenon. Why does it take reaching our 40’s to finally feel
that confidence in ourselves?! Speaking from personal experience, I didn’t build the confidence
to take the plunge into running my own business, start a podcast, and pursue other career
dreams until I approached forty. And even then, I questioned every second of it, easily allowing
my fears to convince me that I’m not equipped for the big 'what if'. It’s like diving into the
movie Inside Out and you have fear on one shoulder and happiness on the other shoulder- each
saying the same thing, but with different meanings.
Fear versus Happiness
Fear – “What if this fails, what will others think of me? What will happen in my career? What
will happen to my family?” The worst-case scenario list just goes on and on…
Then there’s 'Happiness', “What if something great happens?” I have a shorter list of what
could be great, because let’s be honest, I might feel it’s just a pipe dream and only 1% of people
actually achieve their dream. Taking the plunge to pursue our career or personal passions takes an immense amount of courage. Admitting to the world that you have a dream and knowing that dream might succeed, (or fail) is unknown…and the fear in itself activates the little voice inside of us to back down.
Sara Blakely once said, “Most of the reason we don’t do things is because we’re afraid to fail. I just made a decision one day that I was not going to do things in my life because of fear.”
We tackle this subject head on in Episode 9 with Kathy Guzman Galloway with kgalloway
consulting. Kathy reminded us of an incredible quote shared from a friend… “The Universe is
rigged in your favor.” Regardless of what the future holds, the Universe has our back and while
often it’s scary to try something new or pursue a passion, we are all destined for greatness.
How do you address fear? For me…well I’m taking it day by day and following my heart, being
incredibly disciplined, and having faith that the Universe has my back.
At the end of the day we can do hard things and it will all work out.