You Don’t Have to Know It All

In all my years as a motivational speaker, I’ve discovered what an entrepreneurial spirit we Latinas have. Whenever I ask them what their career goals are, the vast majority will reply, “I would like to start my own business.”

Even though we are very enterprising, we are terrified of starting something new. We think we need to have more education and preparation before beginning a project. Women with advanced university degrees and high-school dropouts alike share this view, proving that no matter what our education level is, we’re always afraid of being in a situation we’ve never been in before.

Maybe you have a dream, but you think: “I don’t have any experience...if I try to do this, I’ll fail...I should be more prepared!” If you have thoughts that make you doubt yourself, you should know about a study conducted by Harvard University that showed that 85 percent of the factors that determine career success have to do with attitude, while only 15 percent have to do with technical expertise in the field.

Don’t wait until you feel like an expert to try something new. If you do, you’ll be waiting all your life! I recommend that you find someone who is successful in your chosen field, and ask them what experience they had before starting their business. You’ll probably be surprised to hear it was very little, but they were ready and willing to learn and to make mistakes.

I remember a few years ago when I first had the opportunity to write a column for newspapers. At the time, I thought: “But I don’t have any experience! I’m not prepared to write on a different topic each week.” But I said “yes” anyway, and I never told the editors that I had so little experience, much less about how nervous I was each time I had to stare down a blank sheet of paper! Now, my column is published in dozens of newspapers in the U.S. and internationally.

And the same thing happened when I decided to be a motivational speaker; I had no idea how to give a seminar, but I took a risk and went after my dream. Since then, I’ve given presentations to thousands of people all around the world. Even though I wasn’t technically qualified for those jobs, I had something even more important: I was willing to try!

Don’t let your entrepreneurial spirit die because you think you don’t have enough training. Your success in life is not determined by your education, preparation or experience, but rather by your passion and confidence in yourself!

By Maria Marín