Hillary Clinton is probably not thinking about Iowa anymore. She's moved on, traveling to New Hampshire to prepare for the primary there, and more immediately, to prepare for tonight's Town Hall with Bernie Sanders.

Pray for that woman who thinks she deserves her triumphs, but isn't certain. Remind her not to check her Twitter mentions.

But I'm still thinking about it. A news-cycle eternity later, I'm still thinking about Clinton's history-making victory as the first woman to win the Hawkeye State caucus.

Now here's where you might stop me. Here's where you might point out, as many news outlets did: the narrowness of Clinton's victory (though Sanders called the race " a virtual tie," Clinton won with 23 delegates to Sanders' 21). Here's where you might point out, as many on Twitter did: the quickness with which Clinton claimed her victory is problematic or symptomatic of some deeper flaw.

All over social media, BernieBros and pundits were scandalized. "The fact that Hillary's campaign keeps saying they are winners, when it isn't even over, is why this is so close," New York Daily News writer Shaun King tweeted . Taegan Goddard went further, asserting that her decision to get out ahead of the vote "only plays into Bernie's message that the system is rigged."

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Hillary trying to declare victory early only plays into Bernie’s message that the system is rigged. Tone deaf. — Taegan Goddard (@politicalwire) February 2, 2016

"Tone deaf," he emphasized .

Sure, I'd say, yes—that is true. A woman so brazen would have to be out of touch. She'd have to be blind to convention to do what men have done for decades, making quick assessments of the optics and deciding stalemates in their own favor, anyway. If she were more attuned, she'd know: Women don't claim their own victories. It's too risky. Even when we're sure of ourselves, criticism is harsh and frequent. When we're anything less than positive, God help us. Pray for that woman who thinks she deserves her triumphs, but isn't certain. Remind her not to check her Twitter mentions.

As women, lately, it seems we ought to measure our victories in decimal points.

Recent studies have demonstrated that while statistics are improving for women at work, progress is so slow that researchers estimate it will take about 100 years to achieve gender equality at the highest executive levels. The Pew Research Center may have found in 2015 that most Americans believe women are every inch as capable of being good political leaders as men, but it went on to report that just over half of respondents think men will continue to hold most top corporate positions in the future.

The fact is that women almost never are 100 percent certain of their odds—especially on ballots and in boardrooms. Researchers Kathryn Pearson and Eric McGhee found in 2013 that "women are more hesitant to run for office," period, because they "are more concerned about their credentials and viability than men." Harvard Business Review put a finer point on it, writing that "nice girls don't ask" to be promoted or to negotiate raises at work. Women, the writers contended, have learned not to "ask for more" and workplace cultures "penalize women when they do ask—further discouraging them from doing so." It's a double-bind. Women tend to be passed over for good opportunities. But if they put themselves forward for consideration, they're "pushy" and presumptuous. Trapped, women try to strike the prudent deal—better to wait until the outcome is undeniable and the promotion is inevitable and all the votes have been tallied than to risk even a hint of overconfidence. Better to protect ourselves from not only skepticism, but abuse.

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Sanders speaker on HRC in West Des Moines: "Every night, she slept with the old president. And we got the same thing." — Dan Merica (@merica) February 2, 2016

Except, of course, there is no "inevitable" result.

Case in point: Hillary Clinton. When Clinton announced her bid for the Oval Office in April, she was so evident a nominee that insiders worried she'd be unprepared for the general election. They predicted she would need to practice her bite. Thanks to Sanders, she has started to sharpen it far earlier than she expected to. Ten months later, Clinton and Sanders have finished in Iowa in what Sanders deemed "a virtual tie." And while, yes, that is a fair description of the outcome, Hillary paid it no mind. She wanted a win and she took it.

Clinton did not wait to find out whether she had 100%-for-certain won the caucus. She did not wait for CNN to make a prediction, and she certainly didn't wait until 2 p.m. the next day when the AP finally declared Clinton the winner. With 94 percent of caucus sites accounted for and a minuscule lead on Sanders, she went ahead and decided that this match was over. Bold, passionate, determined, she redefined what it means to win like a girl.

"I stand here tonight," Clinton said to her supporters more than 12 hours before the state Democratic Party settled the matter once and for all, "breathing a big sigh of relief: Thank you, Iowa!"

"I want you to know," she went on, beaming, "I will keep doing what I have done my entire life. I will keep standing up for you. I will keep fighting for you."

Choosing between ceding her victorious moment to the overnight news cycle and risking public humiliation in the event that Sanders pulled ahead, Hillary Clinton did some mental math and seemed to bolster her own resolve: She had won Iowa. She needed no one to tell her so.

And neither do I. I have learned over these few years of quasi-adulthood that external validation is a myth, and I'm tired of chasing it. Armed with Y-chromosomes in their back pockets, boys will always be first to raise their hands in class. They will volunteer for illustrious positions and better jobs and believe that they are owed such distinctions. And no matter how many endorsements a woman receives or how extensive her resume may be, the universe still balks when she takes what she believes is hers.

Wins for women are rare and precious, but we make them even more elusive when we cede them to someone else because we want to be 100 percent "sure."

And you know what? I want to see the value in risk-taking and to trust that my instincts are good. At the end of a work day, I want to be able to tell myself that I won it. Hillary proves it—no one is going to do it for me.

Mattie Kahn Mattie Kahn is a writer who lives in New York.

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