3 Common Professional Fears and How to Conquer Them
Fears come in all shapes and sizes. When it comes to professional fears, they can have a big impact on your development and confidence in the workplace. While it’s not uncommon to have certain professional fears, it’s important to recognize them and address your fears before they seriously affect your performance. The All Points team shared a few common professional fears they’ve encountered and how they conquered them.
Organization
Organization is key, and for good reason. While being organized helps us perform more successfully, good organizational skills can be difficult to develop. Emily B., one of our Creative and Digital Associates, shares how she conquered her fear of organization with the All Points team.
“One professional fear that I’ve dealt with is organization,” says Emily. “I thought I was very organized before starting at All Points, but as a new employee I quickly found that my old organization tools weren’t working anymore. This used to be a big fear of mine when I first started, but with the help of my team and coworkers, I’ve developed the perfect organization system that’s helped keep me on task.”
If organization is a source of struggle, enlist the help of your coworkers, discover what works for them and see how these methods can apply in your own personal system.
Public speaking
While there are those who enjoy public speaking, and even do so professionally, it can be a daunting task for many others. Katie, one of our Public Relations Associates, addresses her fear of public speaking and what has helped her gain more confidence.
“One professional fear that I’ve dealt with is public speaking,” says Katie. “One way I’ve started to overcome this is by starting off small, first presenting with my Pod in the office (much less scary) to eventually working my way to present in front of a client. Although it’s a work in progress, starting off small helped me gain the confidence I needed.”
Public speaking is not an easy task, but with plenty of practice in front of a small, comfortable group, you can gain the confidence you need to tackle a larger presentation without fear.
Meeting expectations and goals
As a professional, you want to set the bar high for yourself and exceed expectations. However, this can often result in fear of falling short. Emily M., one of our Public Relations Associates, discusses how she overcomes this fear.
“A professional fear of mine is not meeting or growing my goals and expectations in my career,” says Emily. “One way to overcome this fear is to set real and achievable expectations for myself. Nobody knows my capabilities better than myself, and it is very important to be realistic when setting goals.”
With overcoming any professional fear related to growth, it’s essential to reflect on your performance and identify what is and isn’t working for you in achieving your goals.
“Don’t aim too low or too high,” Emily adds. “I set personal goals weekly and refer to them at the end of the week to assess myself and what I can do to continue to reach my goals and grow as a professional.”
The All Points team is committed to each other’s professional growth and is always seeking new and improved ways to tackle professional fears and achieve big goals.