In my senior year at Boston College, I was scheduled to interview with a gentleman, John Slattery, who at the time was the VP of Marketing for NESN. I told Patricia (my girlfriend at the time and now my wife of 18 years) about how I was going into this meeting and getting this internship, and I was reeking of confidence. She said, \u201cGo get it, but don\u2019t be disappointed if it doesn\u2019t work out,\u201d being supportive and caring at the same time. I smirked and told her that there was no room for doubt and I was just going to go out and get it because it was a perfect fit for me. I think, actually I know, my over-confidence was puzzling to her.<\/p>\n
So I went out and I got the gig. I interned at NESN and I am confident that John would say that I was one of his best interns. I approached the opportunity as if I owned it and had a very positive experience. Patricia\u2019s words of caution wasn\u2019t the first or the last time that folks expressed to me that I should balance getting excited about an opportunity without getting overly \u201cup\u201d, setting myself up for failure. I have to say that my confident approach puzzles people at times. I remember when we were setting a very aggressive revenue goal for the new stadium; the Patriots President and Owner, Jonathan Kraft, was amazed at my confidence in obtaining the goal \u2013 his words are as clear now as they were back then, \u201cI\u2019ve never met anyone as confident in themselves as you.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are reasons I am this way. I don\u2019t believe there is any such thing as failure, unless you quit. I think it is impossible to fail if you give your all into everything you do and you allow your passion to guide you to achieve your ultimate goals. I don\u2019t believe there are any timetables or exact steps that take you to your destination. I am happy to accept and acknowledge pitfalls and roadblocks. But again, failure is only when you quit. Because of this I do not doubt myself at all. If I set out to do something, I always do it. It may not be in the timeline that I have originally set out for, I may face challenges I didn\u2019t expect, I will even be hit with set backs along the way. But, no matter the pitfalls or how many times I get knocked on my ass, I get up, dust myself off and get back to business.<\/p>\n
The biggest problem with most people is that they doubt themselves, because they listen to the naysayers and the people who live in fear, people who can only get satisfaction by tearing others down. The only way these pessimists thrive is through crushing the dreams of others. The fact of the matter is they have no power to crush your aspirations. Only you<\/em> have that power. Don\u2019t subscribe to their thinking, don\u2019t let them take you off track, and never, ever, ever give them the satisfaction of letting them believe they have gotten to you.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t think for one second that I\u2019m saying I haven\u2019t had bumps in the road or that I have not made mistakes. I have, and imagine I will in the future. Don\u2019t think that I have already achieved everything I have set out to accomplish or that I believe that I have; I have not, and in some instances, have a long way to go. Don\u2019t think for one second that I don\u2019t question myself and examine how I am approaching things. I do it constantly. Questioning yourself, or hearing others question you, is not the problem. Letting the questions deter you from your mission is the issue. Letting their doubt in you become your doubt is the problem. I know it sounds clich\u00e9 to say that you can achieve anything if you want to. But it\u2019s anything but clich\u00e9, if<\/em> you truly believe in yourself. The problem is that the fear of failure has been beaten into you since you were born. It\u2019s time to escape the chains of doubt.<\/p>\n I believe in me. I\u2019ve got to tell you, and please do not take offense to this \u2013 I don\u2019t care if you believe in me or not. I would be lying if I said I didn\u2019t prefer that, but I am not going to let it negatively affect me. Believing in yourself is the key. If you can do that, there is no stopping you. It\u2019s not about money or power, as most people may want you to believe. It\u2019s about you having confidence in yourself. I know a number of talented people and so-called rich people who lack the confidence I speak about. They may have celebrity status and possessions, but they lack what money and fame can never buy. The only true measure of success is how much you believe in you. You cannot be truly happy without that being solid first.<\/p>\n Always remember, you are in control of your destiny. You are the only one who can prevent your success. Don\u2019t let others lead you to you doubting yourself. Believe in you and then success and happiness will come true.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In my senior year at Boston College, I was scheduled to interview with a gentleman, John Slattery, who at the time was the VP of Marketing for NESN. I told Patricia (my girlfriend at the time and now my wife of 18 years) about how I was going into this meeting and getting this internship, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-leadership"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/louimbriano.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/louimbriano.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/louimbriano.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/louimbriano.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/louimbriano.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=409"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/louimbriano.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2042,"href":"http:\/\/louimbriano.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409\/revisions\/2042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/louimbriano.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/louimbriano.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/louimbriano.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}