Do you sometimes struggle with having and maintaining a consistent level of self-confidence? I think we all do at some point or another. No matter how well things are going at home, work, in your relationships or in your own head there are times all of us wonder how am I staking up? Do I deserve this or that? If I risk putting myself out there, will I regret it? Will everyone think that I failed at this, not that I really tried hard to accomplish this and was not successful this time? Well I call this your 49% winning over your 51%. This is a state when you believe more of what you perceive is coming from outside sources (49%) than you are willing to believe about you from the inside (51%). In other words, you are swayed by external forces and these forces are winning and perhaps dictating what you do in your life and how far you are willing to go to push your life forward. Not a good position to be in because in truth, no one knows you like you know you. So start today, STOP IT! It is time to flip the script on your 49%. It is time that you trust your 51%.
I remember when I applied to Harvard Business School. My boss at the time told me to prepare myself for when I do not get in because not even he could get in. After I turned in my application, I allowed his 49% to win in my head making it my 49%, so much so, I never really believed it would happen. I even began talking like it couldn't happen. But why not? I had a strong academic record, strong community service, great leadership track record, all the qualities HBS looked for at its institution. Why not me? Well not me, because I refused at the time to put my 51% ahead of my 49%.
The day I graduated from Harvard, I promised myself that never again would I sell myself low. And never again would I allow someone else to dictate what happened in the space of my 49%. Now it is your turn. STOP IT!
I ran into this boss years later on a NYC subway train. He remembered me. He asked how I was doing. My 51% told him I was doing just fine, working at the best marketing company in the world along with many other Harvard Business School graduates that I have met along the way. I saw his 49% creep out in his facial expression. I exited the train and walked off with my 51% in my head.
I remember when I applied to Harvard Business School. My boss at the time told me to prepare myself for when I do not get in because not even he could get in. After I turned in my application, I allowed his 49% to win in my head making it my 49%, so much so, I never really believed it would happen. I even began talking like it couldn't happen. But why not? I had a strong academic record, strong community service, great leadership track record, all the qualities HBS looked for at its institution. Why not me? Well not me, because I refused at the time to put my 51% ahead of my 49%.
The day I graduated from Harvard, I promised myself that never again would I sell myself low. And never again would I allow someone else to dictate what happened in the space of my 49%. Now it is your turn. STOP IT!
I ran into this boss years later on a NYC subway train. He remembered me. He asked how I was doing. My 51% told him I was doing just fine, working at the best marketing company in the world along with many other Harvard Business School graduates that I have met along the way. I saw his 49% creep out in his facial expression. I exited the train and walked off with my 51% in my head.
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