It is surprising how many successful professionals suffer from self-doubt. While it’s just basic human nature, it can limit them from achieving career goals.
Despite plenty of evidence of their power, ability, and creativity, self-doubt can still prevent them from putting themselves forward for new opportunities, speaking up in various situations, and can leave them stressed and second-guessing important decisions.
There are times when self-doubt can keep you alive at extremes, but then it can be one of the most significant impediments to achieving your career goals, most especially when you are not certain of your abilities.
How Can Self-Doubt Sabotage Your Career ?
Where exactly does this self-doubt come from? How can self-doubt sabotage your career and what can you do about it?
In the professional sphere, these three forms of self-doubt are most prevalent:
- Fear of failure
- Imposter syndrome
- Fear of success
Let’s take a look at what exactly these are and how they can affect people in the workplace.
Fear of Failure
Fear of failure generally manifests as not putting yourself forward or taking risks due to fear of the consequences of failure.
This belief is unreasonable when the risk of failure is relatively low, and the consequences also relatively insignificant.
Let’s take a look at three examples:
Scenario #1
Imagine someone perfectly qualified who is reluctant to put themselves forward for a new job opportunity within their organization for fear that they won’t get it.
Their fear is unfounded as they are an experienced and well-respected member of the team with a good shot at the job. But they worry about how bad it will look if they don’t get it.
The reality is that if they don’t get the job, they will have shown their colleagues that they are eager to grow, and so may be offered other opportunities that come up. But instead, they don’t apply, and none of their colleagues realize that they would like to take on more responsibility.
Scenario #2
Imagine someone needs funding for a project, and applies for a lower amount of what they need to complete the work as they believe that the lower ask carries less risk of failure. They get the funding but then don’t have the resources to complete the project in the way they would like.
Scenario #3
Imagine a leader who has had to make a difficult decision between investing in product A or product B. Of course, they decide, but as soon as they make it, they start second-guessing themselves and wondering if they chose correctly.
This causes them personal stress and anxiety, but the team is likely to notice their hesitancy. This makes it more difficult for them to persuade the team to support their decision, especially if there were already dissenting opinions. Before long, the entire team has lost their drive and cohesion because of their leader’s self-doubt.
SEE ALSO: Self-Sabotaging Behaviors That Keep You From Earning Your Worth
Imposter Syndrome
Imposter syndrome is a specific extension of the fear of failure. When a qualified, talented, and well-respected person fears that they do not really deserve all the success they have earned and that they will soon be discovered and “outed” as the fraud they are.
Just like ‘our fear of failure person’, they worry that they don’t actually have what it takes to face the challenges that are in front of them and that their past success is based simply on fate, luck, and timing, rather than themselves.
Like our fear of failure folk, as a result, they will often be reluctant to put themselves forward and take risks as they fear that this will be the thing that exposes them. They may also defer decisions and opportunities to others, passing on the success that could have been theirs. Consequently, their prospects tend to stagnate as they try and remain “under the radar”.
Fear of Success
People who suffer from fear of success do not doubt their ability to shine when given a new challenge, but they can be reluctant to take on challenges because of the potential consequences.
Women often fear taking on too much and gaining too much success because they fear being seen as a “ball breaker” and become socially ostracized within the workplace. They may also worry about how their success might make other people, in particular male partners, feel.
Others may fear that their success will see them out of a job, as they solved the problems they were brought on board to deal with, rather than believing that a new role will be found for them within the organization. Anxiousness about additional responsibilities that a person might need to take on due to success is also a common fear.
These latter two manifestations can often be linked to misinterpreting feelings associated with success. It is not always easy to distinguish clearly between excitement and anxiety, especially when other stressors are at play.
People who suffer from fear of success tend to self-sabotage by setting the bar for goals low, finding excuses for giving up, procrastinating, and self-handicapping, which means putting obstacles in their own path, which can later be used to justify their failure.
What Can You Do About Self-Doubt?
Self-doubt is not uncommon in the workplace or anywhere else in life. To wonder whether you have what it takes to achieve something is normal. But there is a difference between deciding that you are, and therefore putting that doubt to one side and moving forward, and letting that doubt cripple your ability to succeed.
So, don’t feel bad if you have self-doubt, it is completely normal. A study by the European Institute for Leadership and Management suggests that 50% of female managers and 31% of male managers experience self-doubt.
What differentiates people is whether they have the ability to put self-doubt to one side and move forward. Luckily, this is a skill that you can learn and cultivate.
Don’t allow self-doubt to sabotage your career. Here are some steps to take to overcome self-doubt:
1. Question Your Doubt
When you find yourself questioning yourself, pause for a moment and question your doubt. Try and look at yourself objectively and decide whether your fears are in fact reasonable. Speaking about your fears to a trusted friend or colleague can also help you put things in perspective.
In addition to this, try and identify your emotional triggers. What are you feeling that is making you question yourself? Can you identify why this is happening and try and disconnect these feelings from the situation?
2. Find a Cheerleader
There is a reason that athletes have a coach standing on the side lines yelling encouragement at them. When you are in your own head, it is easy for self-doubt to creep in and to fall into a familiar spiral.
But you instinctively know that other people can often see you more objectively than you can see yourself, which is why it matters when other people tell you that they believe in you and that you have what it takes.
Find colleagues, mentors, or others that can be your professional coach and give you a healthy reality check and a dose of self-confidence when self-doubt is threatening.
SEE ALSO: 5 Ways On How To Overcome Self-Doubt
3. Manager Your Inner Voice
We all have an inner voice, and it will be yours that is filling your head with doubts, worries, and fears. “You’ll never get that job,” “everyone will see just how unprepared you are,” “everyone will hate you if you do this.”
You need to recognize that this inner voice is not you, but rather your self-protection agent. It will say anything to keep you safe, which from its perspective is keeping you well within your comfort zone.
Listening to this voice is dangerous, as its words can permeate into the part of your mind that is you. But ignoring it also doesn’t tend to be effective.
Instead, take each thought as it comes, and consciously address it, reframing the fear.
“There is a possibility that I will not get this job, but the experience will teach me important lessons that will help me on future job interviews.”
“I have dealt with challenges like this before and been successful. This is a new challenge, but I will work hard to ensure that I have the same success.”
“Valued colleagues will respect my hard work and determination. Anyone who is angry with me for my success is not worth my attention”.
4. Choose Fight
When we are afraid, our fight or flight instinct is triggered. In most of the examples that we have looked at, our self-doubters choose flight, and they back away from challenges.
The next time your fight or flight reflex is triggered, try to choose fight. Pour the intense energy and emotions that you are feeling into your challenge and tackle it head on.
Take the opportunity to show yourself and the world exactly what you are capable of.
Self-doubt or a lack of self-confidence can be just as damaging to your career as being arrogant or overconfident. Do you have doubts about your professional abilities? If this is the case, your doubt may prevent you from achieving your career goals if care isn't taken.
You don't have to let fear prevent you from climbing that career ladder. Let go of self-doubt, face your fears, focus on your goals, and spend time on improving yourself.
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