Glamour Has Substance!

I find that nothing is better to distract myself from the hard work I'm doing on the elliptical machine at the gym than a good ol' trashy magazine. You know the ones - lots of pictures of celebrities walking out of the grocery store or Starbucks.

Well, yesterday I thought I was in for the same ol' fare when I picked up the latest issue of Glamour magazine. I was more than pleasantly surprised to find a fantastic article by Jessica Matlin entitled "Tips From the Women Who Make You Gorgeous". (October 2008, pp. 127-132).

"Oh great!" I thought. More silly tips on applying makeup that I rarely wear.

But wait, there was more...

These were short little snippets of interviews with some of the top executives in the beauty industry - we're talking about president of L'Oreal Paris, Karen Fondu, legendary supermodel Iman, CEO of Shiseido Cosmetics, Heidi Manhaimer (the first American woman to hold this position in the company's 136-year history), president and CEO of LVMH Perfumes (guides brands like Dior and Guerlain). There's more, but I'd like to get to the point...

These are definetely women who have worked hard to climb that corporate ladder and have broken through the glass ceiling. Here are some of the important things they had to say about business and success:

"Don't be afraid to admit you have no idea what you're doing. It's not a sign of weakness; it's a sign of courage. I ask my mentor...for help all the time."

"It's normal to be nervous about new challenges. Anyone who isn't scared by something brand new is crazy!"

"My beauty ideal is that modern woman who is slightly not put together. I think imperfections are beautiful."

"If you overreact when you make a mistake, you'll just make another. Instead, reflect upon how you can fix things and avoid the problem in the future."

Um - are you listening to this? These are top executives - and yes, they have the same fears, hesitations, and doubts that we all do. But do they let those fears stop them from getting and going for what they want? NO!

They not only push past this fear, but they accept it as a part of the package. True courage does not come from doing something easy that everyone can do. True courage comes from doing something scary, something risky - DESPITE that fear. It's not that the courageous have no fear, they just see it as part of the package and continue to move forward.

What can you do TODAY to move past a fear? Ask yourself "What's the worst thing that will happen?" It's not half as bad as you think. It's just the flimsy tissue paper wrapped around the gift that you really want and deserve.

Read the whole article here.