It’s tough enough to be a woman in the competitive—and still boy’s world—of newspapers and the increasingly important digital world of news. Worse, what about becoming a novelist when you’re well past the age to start such a crazy new chore, and when all logic dictates that it’s just better to stick to what you know, to not take that chance, to stay safe and refrain from possibly making an ass out of yourself?

Screw that.

I’ve spent most of my adult life ignoring people who thought they could kick my dreams to the curb. But that’s OK. I can take a punch. My choice as a young woman was learn to take a punch and get back up and fight harder, or lay down and let the world pass me by.

Being a powerful woman who wants to leave behind more than a lovely corpse means leaving a legacy of what you’ve done. That takes more than a pink hat; it takes the ability to speak up when you know it’s not the best thing for your career, but that it is the best thing for your life and the world around you. It means never letting the men in your workplace think they can disrespect you or get the better of you. They can’t if you don’t let them. Period.

Seek out your own truth. You know it’s there if you have the guts to dig it out. Oh, and don’t take no crap from nobody. Especially men.

Read more at Success.com.