Whether working in a traditional setting or through online jobs, there are many benefits to being more confident at work.
You can contribute more during meetings, reduce stress, and have a better chance of ascending to leadership roles. These are just some of the reasons why self-confidence is essential at work.
However, many employees today struggle with building self-confidence at work. Maybe it’s your first job, and you don’t know the ins and outs of the job yet. Or perhaps you believe you lack the necessary skills to do your tasks effectively.
This is more apparent in women than in men, as a series of surveys by the Harvard Business Review showed. According to it, women were less likely to self-promote themselves at work than their male peers.
Fortunately, there are ways that can help you build self-confidence at work. What are these tips to improve your confidence? Here are some of them.
Identify Your Strengths and Areas of Improvement.
The first step in building your self-confidence at work is taking a good hard look at yourself and assessubg your current strengths and weaknesses. By constantly practicing self-reflection, we can identify who we are right now. This helps us take action to become the person we want to be.
First, look up your strengths. There must be a reason your employers hired and continue to employ you. What areas are you undeniably good at? What value do you bring to your team and company?
Next, it’s time to identify areas you can improve on. This is the hard part for many of us, as looking at our weaknesses can make us feel bad about ourselves. But by doing so, we can know where we should focus our efforts on self-improvement the most.
Be honest with your answers, and note these down and place them somewhere you can see everyday. Seeing your strengths helps boost your confidence, while your weaknesses remind you to continuously strive to better yourself.
Be Kind to Yourself.
Self-reflection isn’t easy. Since you have to look at yourself objectively, it can make you feel worse off.
That’s why you should be gentle with yourself. Your current assessment of yourself and your skills isn’t permanent. You have the capacity to become better and overcome your present challenges to be more confident at work.
Remember, changing yourself for the better is a slow and sometimes painful process. So don’t be surprised if you stumble on the road many times. What matters is you pick yourself up and try again each time.
Start Slow.
One of the typical effects of a lack of confidence at work is the lack of motivation to improve yourself because you don’t believe you can do it.
However, every journey begins with a single step. When you start building your self-confidence at work, you don’t have to immediately volunteer for every task or speak up all the time during meetings.
Instead, why not start small and slow? You can begin by volunteering on tasks you know you can do instead of waiting for them to be assigned. And during meetings, you can just speak when you have something insightful or funny to say.
Celebrate the Little Wins.
Every step or goal you achieve, no matter how small, is cause for celebration. Celebrating your achievements helps you give a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction in your work and skills. This, in turn, improves your self-confidence and motivates you to push yourself further.
Continuously Hone Your Skills.
One common reason employees have little confidence at work stems from the need to improve their skills. Especially now with the advent of remote work and the rapid development of AI technology. They aren’t confident that their current skills are enough to help them keep their jobs or gain a promotion.
The best way to solve this problem is by upskilling through online courses and workshops. By doing these, you can become more productive and confident in your skills – and even eligible for a promotion.
Get Out of Your Comfort Zone.
Aside from honing your current skills, you should also consider learning skills outside your expertise. Doing so not only helps you become more effective at your tasks or potentially shift from one career to another, but it also boosts your confidence and sense of accomplishment.
Yes, it won’t be easy. But then again, the things worth doing rarely are.
There’s nothing quite like learning -and possibly mastering- an initially challenging and unfamiliar skill through determination and hard work.
Dress Like You’re Still Working in an Office.
Since many of us are now working remotely, it’s all too common for us to just wear our pajamas or sleepwear when working. However, if you want to boost your self-confidence at work, dressing like you’re going to the office helps.
Doing so prepares you for those online meetings and presentations at short notice and boost your self-confidence.
Believe… You Must Believe in Yourself.
Speaking from personal experience, it’s not always easy to believe in yourself and your skills. This is especially true when you receive criticism for your work or are experiencing personal problems.
However, know that your mistakes and problems don’t permanently define you. There are many things you can do to build your self-confidence at work, like the ones mentioned above. Finding the courage to believe in yourself will allow you to improve your productivity, meet new friends at work, and go further in your career.
If you now have the courage to apply for an online job but don’t know where to look for one, head to Remote Staff. Our jobs list has a wide range of positions available for you to choose from. Good luck!
