Sometimes I think that my goals are too ambitious, but only because other people think they are. I really do think I can become a managing director or general counsel at an investment bank, or a high-demand consultant at one of the Big Five firms. I hear and read about the skills required, and “I can do that…” I say to myself. Yet, there are so many dreambusters around me. So many people who have their own self-doubt, and they project that on me. When I hear that from people who don’t know me well, I am not affected very much. But, if one of my close friends think I cannot make it or people who’ve seen my best work and consider it not enough for the “real” world, then I would be severely discouraged.
Of course, I’ll bounce back. What I lack in smarts, I make up with self-confidence… haha!
Here’s some advice from Dianne Snedaker, President of Ketchem Advertising, San Franscisco:
“Set your standards high and keep them high. If you are interested in success, it’s easy to set your standards in terms of other people’s accomplishments. And then let other people measure you by those standards. But the standards you set for yourself are always the more important. They should be higher than the standards anyone else would set for you, because in the end you have to live with yourself, and judge yourself, and feel good about yourself. And the best way to do that is to live up to your highest potential. So set your standards high and keep them high, even if you think no one else is looking. Somebody out there will always notice, even if it’s just you.”