This was the advice an experienced entrepreneur gave to a young woman who has started her own company and is growing faster than she can keep up with (worried she is not ready yet or that people may take advantage of her she asked for some advice):

“Don’t refuse meetings because you’re scared. The best advice I got early on in my career is that being an entrepreneur, whether you like it or not, you have to pretend like you’re the bomb all the time. Exaggerate like nobody would ever. Be confident. I know it’s hard. You’re young but you totally get it. Just go in there. Get good advice and be prepared before you go… but go.”

I love the advice to pretend like “you are the bomb”. It’s the same advice Steve Jobs got early on in his career. That’s when the former CEO of Atari told him that if you act like you can do something, then it will work.

“Pretend to be completely in control and people will assume that you are.”  -Bushnell, former CEO of Atari

And what most 40-somethings realize is that they were the bomb all along…they just didn’t know it so they couldn’t own it. But you are probably much more ready than you think. Whether you are an entrepreneur or a employee… find your inner bomb. You do have something to offer.