4 Ways to Show the World How Amazing You Really Are

Suck it up.
Not everyone will support you. Accept that.

The bigger the dream, the smaller the first step.
When I was growing up in the segregated South, every cultural message I got was that I wouldn't amount to much. But I wanted to manage a presidential campaign—and to get there, I knew I'd have to manage a congressional office. As scary as that job was, I saw it as the necessary prerequisite to the future I wanted.

Laugh at the opposition.
Imagine your naysayer with the head of the animal he most resembles. It's tough to take someone seriously when his words are coming from the twitchy mouth of a little white mouse.

It could be worse.
If someone tells you that you shouldn't ask for a raise, tell yourself that if you don't, you will have to eat nothing but Spam and mayonnaise for the next two weeks. That'll keep you on task.


More From Donna Brazile

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• What the world needs now
• 11 questions with Donna Brazile

From the February 2011 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine