Whether it’s your first day at your new job or you have just been promoted to a new position, I bet you’re feeling pretty anxious. This is normal for everyone who is given a new challenge. But it is important to face your fears and boost your confidence in order to be successful in your new position.
Why Confidence is Your Biggest Asset
According to a study at the University of Melbourne, there is a strong correlation between confidence and occupational success. Self confidence is a useful thing to have, especially when starting a new job. Confidence will help you on your way to success, in addition to many other benefits.
With greater self confidence comes greater self worth. You will begin to feel more valuable when you are confident in your capabilities and naturally have higher self-esteem and self pride. This will also result in a greater sense of power and competency in your new job.
You will be much more energized and motivated with your impressive confidence. Your goals and dreams will seem much more attainable with a positive view of yourself and your abilities. The longer you “fake it till you make it,” the more your confidence will overpower the self doubt you are probably feeling with your new position. Instead of doubting your abilities and therefore stunting yourself, be confident that you can and will accomplish any task before you.
When you are free from the anxiety and self doubt that comes with new changes, you will approach challenges with a new mindset. You will confidently accept, handle, learn, and benefit from every situation you face at work, which will no doubt lead you to a successful career. By replacing fear and anxiety with greater confidence you will put yourself on the right path toward success and have a positive outlook on life.
It’s a no-brainer that it is worth the effort to become a more confident person. Life will not only become more enjoyable, but also easier, as many doors will be opened for your career. Start your first day wearing your confidence to demonstrate that you are the best person for this new position. Check out the following tips on how to gain confidence in your new job.
5 Tips to Help Boost Your Confidence
These are some great ways to help you ease the first day nerves and strengthen your self confidence in the workplace.
- Just Relax
Walking into the office full of tension will not only put you on edge, it will also stress everyone else out. If you cave in to your stress, you will be less willing to open up to your new coworkers and be overly focused on yourself.
A good way to de-stress is to get your body to relax. Your mind and body try mirror one another, so by loosening your shoulders or mindfully breathing, your body can relax which will eventually relax your mind. Listen to your body when it’s showing signs of stress. If you take the time to be and look relaxed, your confidence will have room to grow.
- Remember Why You’re There
When you start a new job, it can be an overwhelming experience. You’re on a new floor or in a brand new building and have so much to learn in what seems like a short amount of time. You probably feel out of place and lost.
It’s helpful to remind yourself why you got this new position. Don’t forget, you were selected from a pool of candidates because you are the best person for the job. Now all you have to do is act like it. Your employers have faith in you, so don’t forget to have faith in yourself.
- Humanize Your Coworkers
A lot of the fear that comes with a new job has to do with how you compare yourself to others. You’re the newest addition, so everyone around you is better than you in some way since they know more.
It’s best to stop this type of thinking and remind yourself that no one is perfect. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses and their own histories, even though they might not seem obvious to you now. Remember that your co workers are people and they were in your shoes before. No need to compare yourself to them and make yourself feel small, you are all in this together.
- Trust the Process
Like I’ve said before, your first day at your new job will be a blur. You will probably feel overwhelmed by all the new information you need to know and a pressure to perform from the moment you start.
Be easy with yourself and understand that this is all part of the process. You are new to this position, of course you don’t know all the answers yet. In fact, pretending that you do will only harm you in the learning process.
That is why I suggest you trust the process and confidently ask for help when needed. Ask for clarification on confusing assignments or tell people you will get back to them once you find the answer. This is a braver way to go about starting a new position.
- Change the Way You Look at Change
Change is scary and rightfully so. If it isn’t new and scary, it isn’t a challenge. Don’t let the fear of change debilitate you–let it encourage you. Your brain lights up in new situations where the outcome is uncertain and makes you feel scared. This is a perfectly normal human response. The problem is when you let that fear hold you back instead of using that fear as fuel to tackle the presented challenge.
Everyone is nervous when starting a new position and not everyone can wear their confidence well. For example, if someone just received their CPA license and landed an awesome new job, they will cripple their success by not believing in themselves and their abilities. Their hours of study and years of hard work are proof enough that they deserve this job and they will crush it. And you will too as long as you know that confidence is key and building confidence is more an exercise of daily determination than an innate ability.
About the Author:
Christine Aquino founded the site cpareviewcourses.org – an online resource dedicated to helping professionals pass all four sections the CPA Exam on their first try. Christine provides reviews of cpa prep courses and gives expert cpa prep tips to ease the process of becoming a CPA.