There is a quote I live by “Believing that you can is the first step, Believing in yourself is the second step but putting what you believe in into action will be your break through.” Every one of us has a dream, most women want to achieve what men achieve and we have been seeing how women are standing up and many have been raising the bar high for many women. But it takes courage, a positive attitude and a different mindset to be the best at what you do and even to achieve more.
Women have been taught how to change their mindset and believe in themselves, I say it’s easy to say but very hard to implement because of the many obstacles that we/they still face but I am a person who believes that everything is possible and having an optimistic mindset will take you far than you will ever imagine and this is something we can all learn because life itself is a journey that teaches us a lot each and every day if we open our mind to it.
A workplace is a place you will find people with different mindsets, behaviors, character and opinions, you can’t all be the same and expecting everyone to be like us is kinda selfish and not even possible but what one needs to do is to adopt, learn how to manage each situation and challenges as they come. Women deserve to be treated fairly in all workplaces but speaking out of experience, for one to be respected or treated fairly it will depend on you, yourself and how you perceive yourself. Most people will respect you or give you value when you set your standards high and this is one area that most of us women haven’t worked on. When I said that believing that you can is the first step is because you need to first be aware of yourself, accept that if they can do it why not you? Yes this is not applicable to everything but you need to learn to choose your battle, master it and believe you can. Second is believing in yourself, we have read this so many times, we have been taught about it but it shouldn’t stop on just hearing, we need to practice it, we need to remind ourselves each morning that we are capable, we have the potential because this will fuel your day, this will motivate you and yes you might not have the skills yet but that is something you need to draw a plan for and achieve it, keep in mind that getting on top and staying productive will require you to put in some extra effort and this is the effort we all need to be aware of and thrive hard to achieve and again nothing is easy in life but let’s also be realistic and accept that believing in yourself in an environment that consistently reminds you of how you are not capable is not easy, we tend to see the finished products but when you dig down into the making you find a lot of challenges and this is where most of our self-esteem is buried, some workplaces has those people who keep on reminding you how you are not fit for the role because you are a woman, others have those who will demotivate you telling you stories of how a hardworking woman is seen as a threat in the society, home etc and these are the challenges we face, but one thing I should tell you is that these same challenges should shape you, they should teach you to believe in yourself and to achieve all that for yourself not for everyone else, always ask yourself this, why are they discouraging me, why are they afraid of me? It’s because they know and see that you are capable. So if all these obstacles find you with a low self-esteem, it will be very hard for you to move forward and remember these challenges shouldn’t define you because in the end it’s their opinion, ideas but not yours. How people think of you should never be your problem, it should never affect you because it’s them, it’s how they also perceive themselves so if they can’t see themselves as great human beings why would you expect them to think of you that way? So how you respond to such negativity around you/us will determine how far you/me can go in life and this is where the attitude aspect comes in.
Challenges will always be there, family will always be there, life etc but how do you take all that in, how do you respond to all that. Let me conclude with this, when you have a plan, you will always find a way to achieve it, everyone wants a good life but not everyone works to achieve it. 5 years ago I didn’t know I would be a Manager in one of the Leading Banks in Rwanda and I can’t say it was a miracle to become one but rather having that little faith in myself, pushing myself to the limit and with the help of my Leaders who saw potential in me and pushed me to become the best but before seeing the potential in me is because there is something I proved to them, that somehow gave them the comfort to believe in me, this is just my story but it can be yours too. If there is something that will take you far is having the right attitude, knowing who to consult, who to run to for guidance and how to create relationship with those who will have your back and we can all learn this.
It takes time, it requires extra effort but remember it’s doable and it will start with YOU, the rest will push you, encourage you but the biggest work will be done by you.