I mentioned in my last post I’ve spoken with a number of professionals about how to overcome obstacles at work. In some cases, people are re-evaluating where they are. In other cases, they have found themselves out of a job and looking to start fresh.
One common thread from these conversations is a lack of confidence. In just about every case, I detected or the person expressed a lack of confidence on their part to either say what they want or do what it takes to achieve the goals they have in mind.
Why does confidence matter?
If you’re not sure, I’m not sure. How can you convince someone of something you don’t believe? Whether you’re asking for more money, expressing your desire to lead an important project or providing perspective during your annual evaluation, you have to be a buyer of what you’re selling. And if you’re out of work or going through the interview process, this holds true even more. Organizations want to employ people who believe in themselves, and therefore can believe in the mission of the company.
It impacts your ability to make sound decisions. It’s very likely where there is a deep lack of confidence, there is a strong sense of fear. Maybe you don’t want to say or do anything wrong. Or you’re afraid your ideas won’t resonate. This is where you have a draw a line in the sand. All any of us can do is bring the best of what we have to whatever we’re doing. At the point where we second (third, fourth or fifth) guess ourselves, we diminished our ability to do that. This makes it nearly impossible to stand behind the decisions we make.
It demonstrates whether you feel you’re worthy. When it all comes down to it, if you are not confident in yourself or your work, there may be a deep sense that you’re not worthy of the outcomes you seek. This may seem philosophical but it is crucial. All through school, I had convinced myself I didn’t like math. When I got to college, my first instructor Niandi said to me: if you are successful with words problems, you’re successful in life. Presto! It all made sense. My point: we attract the things we believe we are most worthy of.
Be confident in who you are. Be confident in what you know. Have confidence that you are worthy of great things. And if you encounter a situation where things just won’t work out and it is time to move on, be confident that you’re turning the page to a new chapter that reflects the person you have become and desire to be.