A top recruitment firm believed that people lack self image and they are afraid of rejections. They believed that low self image is the reason why there is shortage of top management applicants in market.

To prove this point, they ran a newspaper ad in four major job markets – Los Angeles, New York, Dallas and Chicago. Each ad appeared in different sections of the classifieds, had no real description of the position. The ad only had a salary and a phone number to call for details. The ad ran for a week.

The first ad looked like this:

WANTED

$30,000 PER YEAR

CALL (000) 555-5555

Here is the second ad:

WANTED

$300,000 PER YEAR

CALL (000) 222-2222

The tally was done at the end of the week. Te response for the $30,000 job ad was so much high, that extra operators were put on duty to handle the call volume. Thousands of people had called for more information literally.

Now, when they tallied the total call volume for the $300,000 job ad, they were equally amazed. All cities combined for one week, when tallied, only FIVE people had called for more details about this position!

May be most people who saw the second ad but did not think they would qualify for such a high paying job. But how could they know that if they did not call? Low self image and fear of rejection stopped most people from calling for a higher paying job.

The sad fact is, most people don’t go for what they really want in a career. They think of their current capabilities and drop down a notch, interviewing for jobs that require less than their true ability. Because of the fear that they may fail, we set a lower standard in attempt to reduce the risk of failing. Even though the lowering of the standard doesn’t necessarily guarantee the success, but people feel comfortable being that way.

Napoleon Hill said in his classic book “Think and Grow Rich”, “What the mind can conceive and believe it can achieve”. Our minds will only come up with the ideas and dreams that we can accomplish.

However, if we don’t believe we can, we won’t even attempt for it and then, there is no possibility for accomplishment.

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams     – Eleanor Rossevelt