This week I’ve been thinking a lot about how to build confidence in girls as part of a work project. Part of confidence is self-worth and knowing what you are capable of …and that means working hard. Many of the 40-something women I have talked to this past week have mentioned that the lesson that they are imparting on their daughters is that being successful takes hard work. That’s why I loved these quotes I read in this month’s Marie Claire magazine on the flight home for Christmas.
First this excerpt from an interview with Katy Perry...
At 13 Perry started singing at farmer’s markets for spending money. ‘I’d make enough 20 bucks for the week plus two avocados and some pistachio nuts.’
At 13 putting yourself out there in front of strangers is both a risk and the realization that you can get paid for your talents. She made a job for herself and didn’t expect success to come easy. Shades of Ashton Kutcher here! Then A few pages later I read about Sophia Amorosa, 29, the founder of Nasty Gal.
When I was 22, I wasn’t too proud to do anything. I was taking out trash, buying stinky vintage clothes, and pulling gross Kleenex our of the pockets. I don’t hire people who aren’t willing to do heavy lifting.”
So similar to what some 40-somethings shared with 40:20 Vision:
Twenty year-olds shouldn’t be afraid of hard work because either a) it will make you more successful and will pay off or b) if you stop working it will make you embrace that and know you are lucky not have to be working. – 40-something, finance, opted out and back in, married mom, CT
Consider that maybe it’s okay to work hard to get what you want. There is no delayed gratification anymore. If I want to go buy something, I go buy it. If I want to call someone or email them, it’s right in my hands. If I want to watch a movie, I dial it up on the computer. But those aren’t relationships. A career is a relationship. So I think it’s trying to consider that maybe it’s okay to work hard to get what you want. You’re not entitled to everything just because you got a college degree or just because you got a college degree and now you have your masters by age 24. You have to develop the relationships…that is as important as the intelligence and creds. – 40-something, technology sales, mom, wife, CA
I hesitated on writing this because I know so many 20sometihngs that blow me away with how hard they work. Between startups or corporate jobs with side projects and profitable businesses, they are 24/7. But perhaps simply a reminder… it’s all worth it and that most of the success stories you read about had some elbow grease behind them …so don’t get discouraged.
Happy Holidays to all…thank you for reading and supporting 40:20 Vision!