How many great job opportunities have you missed out on because you couldn't check off, every…single job requirement listed on the application? This behavior is perfectly normal to a perfectionist…and did you know, most women happen to fall into this category? How do we raise awareness among young women and girls so they aren't taking themselves out of the running for a great job opportunity, and are better prepared for the future in general?
I learned at an early age that life is full of challenges, and it is how you deal with those challenges that defines your life. My childhood education made me highly gender-sensitive in some ways, and also gender-blind when it came to competition. I had to be self-assured and strong to survive school bullies. Academic excellence was absolutely necessary to achieve any level of respect in India.
Nobody is perfect, but practice certainly helps you get closer. You're not practicing if you're too intimidated to go for that new opportunity.
These are a few things I kept in mind on my path to success:
Strong, empowered women talk about the hardships they've faced in life and how they've had to deal with many challenges and obstacles. This is how they come face-to-face with their own power, or their warrior within. They have reverence for themselves no matter what the outside circumstances are like. Life only brings the storms and challenges you can handle. Where I am, along with my fellow women business owners, it takes the momentum of a lifetime to get here. Along the way, you create your own unique strengths that are invaluable.
Whether we know it or not, we are greatly impactful. Life is indeed beautiful and needs to be relished from this place of being a warrior. We are fighting to fulfill our roles and our deep longings with dedication, which in turn creates excellence. This inner-guidance eventually makes you live a life larger than yourself and beyond yourself. When you see the positive outcomes of your responsibilities done well, you are finally home to a cozy, warm feeling of having arrived.
If you're looking for a boost of confidence on your journey, keep this in mind:
Now it's time for you to put this formula to the test in your own life. We all have plenty of challenges to overcome, so treat each one as another opportunity to learn and grow from as you continue to make your way down that long, arduous road to success.
Live and have courage in order to follow your ideals; even when it is inconvenient.