Is Your Self Confidence Affecting Your Job Performance?
When was the last time you doubted your own judgment and abilities, or didn’t feel self-assured? For most of us, it might be a few minutes ago, a day ago or maybe a week ago, but we all know what it feels like to be weighed down by our own insecurities. It might not be surprising to hear that 95% of us experience a lack of self-confidence or belief at some stage in our life, but what might surprise you is how much influence your self-confidence has on your job and how you perform at work.
As individuals, we don’t usually perform beyond the limits of the way we see ourselves, whatever those limits may be. As we go about our daily actions at work, there is a stronger, hidden force driving the actions that we take. Somebody with low self-confidence doesn’t normally accept challenges beyond their comfort zone, whereas somebody who has high self-confidence doesn’t feel the desire to stay in their comfort zone. To grow in your career normally requires moving out of your comfort zone and breaking through the limits to get to the next level in your career.
Doubting your abilities, believing that somebody else is better than you, or not thinking you can do the job well, are common examples of low self-esteem at work. The way you feel about yourself directly affects your productivity and job performance, which in turn affects your career success. Why is this? As you grow up, you start experiencing and learning about the world around you. You are very influenced by your parents, friends, your surroundings and experiences, and over the years, most of their beliefs about the world become your own. These beliefs then influence your thoughts, the way you see and think about things, and your feelings about them. The actions you take in life are dictated by these feelings and emotions, and so your actions lead to the habits you have and the results in your life. If you are lacking self confidence in an area, there is almost always a limiting belief hidden somewhere that keeps holding you back.