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How To Boost Your Confidence At Work: Top Tips For Young Professionals

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The world of work can be a stressful place for young professionals. Whether you’re straight out of college or you’ve been in your role for years, confidence issues can strike. It can be a hard environment to put your best self forward, especially when you aren’t feeling like your best self.

This is a completely natural way to be though. The impact of self-esteem issues in the workplace has been widely covered. You may even have a dream position, but suffer from the widespread phenomenon of imposter syndrome and feel like you’re not qualified to do it.

Whatever the issue, there are ways you can help yourself combat these feelings and make sure you’re working to your highest potential. Apply these tips to your daily routine to boost your confidence at work.


Related: Career Guidance for Students – The Ultimate Manual


1. Preparation is key

It’s a Sunday night before you start your new job. You could make the most of it and chill out watching Netflix, or you could eliminate those Monday morning fears and think back to your exam days with a bit of last-minute cramming.

A lot of young professionals struggle with the fear they’re not qualified for their job. If you’re one of those people, it can help to keep yourself up to date on your industry and prep before a big project.

If you work in marketing, for example, take some time to read up on industry trends. This way, you won’t feel your stomach drop when you can’t follow along with what everyone is talking about in the Monday morning meeting.

Having that extra nugget of knowledge can even push you to take risks. You could go into that same Monday morning meeting with an idea ready to pitch. It may not get picked up on and followed through, but you’ve shown yourself you have the expertise to be there.


2. Focus on your strengths

Okay, so you’re spending your day sitting at the desk worrying about the big task you’re sure you can’t do. Instead of letting your fears get the best of you, why not focus on what you can do and what got you into that job in the first place.

Mindset is everything. It’s been shown that low self-esteem can impact productivity greatly. A negative mind leads to a panicked day at work.

When you start to panic about a task, just take some time to remember what you can do. Maybe there’s a way you can use your unique skills to solve the problem. Don’t beat yourself up; talk yourself up. Nobody knows your strengths better than you, be your own biggest cheerleader.


3. Ask questions

Admitting when you don’t know the answer can be the hardest thing to do for a young professional. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been there for three years or three days. You can’t be expected to know everything, and your colleagues will understand that.

When you come across a problem rather than sitting there working yourself up about the answer, just turn to a colleague and ask. Chances are they’ll be happy to be distracted for a minute. Asking may feel impossible, but you’ll feel the relief wash over you instantly.

So, ask away. Ask questions in meetings, ask questions at your desk, ask questions when you finish the task. Questions are your friends, and they’re here to help.


4. Find mentors and talk to people

Latch onto the biggest wealth of company knowledge you can find and pick their brains. Having a mentor to coach you is essential for professional success. It gives you someone you can come to for advice, gain clarity on ideas, and help you overcome obstacles preventing you from developing as an individual.

These people can be your rock in the workplace as a young professional looking to make an impact. Remember what we said about questions? This is the person you can bring all your toughest questions too.

You should talk to all your colleagues. Each of them will have their perspective and skills that you can learn from and better yourself with. You may find out they have concerns and confidence issues too. The closer you and your colleagues are; the more relaxed your workspace will feel.


5. Where’s the fun?

How are you going to feel confident if you aren’t enjoying yourself a bit? Okay, you shouldn’t try and turn the office into a party, but learning how to make where you spend a big portion of your week fun is essential for a positive mindset.

Find the tasks you enjoy and see if they can be a bigger part of your role. Find the people in the workplace that are going to make big projects more interesting. Work can be a lot of fun in the right environment, and once you find that fun, you might just catch yourself feeling a whole lot more confident.


6. Celebrate your successes

This is probably the most important piece of advice. If you’re worried, you’re not good enough or don’t have anything to contribute; then take a look back at what you have achieved and contributed. You finished that big report, you launched that experimental campaign and you made it through the peak period unscathed.

One of the biggest reasons we feel we aren’t achieving anything is because we ignore our achievements. How are you going to feel confident in your abilities if you don’t acknowledge the finish line you just crossed? Make sure to treat yourself when you do something right and take the time out to celebrate your successes.


It can be a tricky thing to train yourself to be more confident, and sometimes setbacks are going to happen. Your boss may blame you for something, or a big project may not turn out as expected. Getting disheartened is the worst thing you can do. Remember how you got there and that you’re there on your own merits and confidence issues at work will be a thing of the past.

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