As the South African workforce hits the half-year mark, many contributing factors can affect low-confidence levels in the workplace, ranging from the colder weather to feeling more tired when juggling our busy lives.
Other factors include being in a job that requires skills you don’t have, or you’re less experienced than those around you. Or you’re new to the company and feel uneasy about your ability to succeed. Or you feel threatened by colleagues, fear losing your job, or are simply too hard on yourself.
Juanita Simpson, Sales and Marketing Director at ICAS Southern Africa’s employee wellness expert shares some quick fire ways in which to get that confidence fix that will not make you feel better or also improve your performance.
Understand your company
Knowing your company is vital for your work. Know who runs it and know the different sectors. Every bit of information will make you more effective at work.
Boost your knowledge
A guaranteed way of being more certain of what you’re doing is to learn more. Know your clients and their industry. Understanding how and why certain departments and processes work can boost confidence in your ability to do work.
Ask questions
Never be afraid to ask questions. Performing a task incorrectly because you don’t fully understand the requirements is not a good way to boost confidence. Instead of getting a task wrong and lowering your confidence, ask for clarification of what is required.
Get yourself known
If you are working in a big company you may feel lost and out of place. This may knock your confidence. Profile yourself and get familiar with unknown faces. This doesn’t have to be forced: it’s simply being friendly and being open to meeting people.
Have a plan
The more prepared you are, the more confident you’ll feel about your expertise and competency. Try and plan your days each morning and be prepared as you can be for meetings.
Cut the negative self-talk
Did your manager compliment one of your ideas? Did you meet a tight deadline? Did you manage to turn a difficult project around? Reminding yourself of successful times is a better way to boost confidence instead of constantly focusing on the negatives.
Build your strengths
A good way to boost confidence is to focus on your strengths rather than your weaknesses.
Learn from your mistakes
Correcting your mistakes along the way is the foundation of success. Learn from previous mistakes and double check your work every time you complete a task. Ask yourself how you could improve on the task even more the next time you do it. In doing so, you will excel and this will boost your confidence.
Dress the part
No one is more conscious of your physical appearance than you are. When you don’t feel like you look good, it changes the way you carry yourself and your interactions with other people.
Have fun
It’s important to enjoy your job. Be engaged, positive, optimistic, open to suggestions, happy to contribute, proactive and mostly cheerful. Learn from your mistakes but also laugh and take criticism with good humour. Being more light-hearted boosts your confidence and helps you improve yourself.
“Lastly, remember that self-esteem comes from self-discipline. The more power you have in getting yourself to make healthy choices, the more self-esteem you will have,” concludes Simpson.
