Low Self-Esteem: 5 Bad Habits That Sabotage Your Success
Going to work can be a chore, but we do it anyway. We do it for money, personal and professional growth, power, camaraderie, and more.
For those people with low self-esteem, we become akin to mice at work. We do a lot, but stay under the radar for one reason or another. Instead of touting our greatness, we’re okay being marginalized.
How does this happen? Mainly because your boss and coworkers start to take you for granted. They don’t fully acknowledge your contributions and neither do you.
Do you do these five things at work?
#1 – “It’s No Problem.” Or “It Was Nothing.”
You’re asked to complete a task or maybe you just completed an action item at work and your boss thanks you for getting it done so quickly. You blurt out, “It’s no problem.” While it may signal to your boss that you’re reliable, this type of response minimizes your efforts. You boss doesn’t know how much time and effort went into the task. And they’ll never know because your “It’s no problem” response doesn’t convey it.
Don’t underestimate yourself or your contributions.
#2 – Jumping To Action Too Soon
If your boss asks you to do something and you start the task immediately without thinking, you might doom yourself to failure. When does your boss need it completed by? How much time is this task really going to take? What exactly needs to happen in order to complete the task? And, who else’s help will you need in order to get it done?
By not asking these pertinent questions, you might be setting yourself up for failure. Even if your boss doesn’t tell you when he or she needs it done by, they may assume you already know. And if you don’t realize this, you might miss a deadline you didn’t even know you had.
Remember to ask questions.
#3 – Not Holding Your Team Accountable
If you’re leading or working in a team environment, it’s extremely important to complete your portion of work, right? Well, it’s even more important to make sure your teammates complete their work as well. You can easily do this by asking questions, such as: “How’s the project coming along?”
The reason for this check-in is because you want to ensure the team is working hard to complete the project on time. Let me clarify, this doesn’t mean do their work for them. However, if they do ask you for help, make sure to acknowledge to the project leader or your boss (if you happen to be the project lead) that you’re more than happy to help, but this additional work will push out the timeline.
On the other hand, if you don’t inquire how others are progressing with their tasks and they end up not finishing them, don’t take the blame yourself. Make sure the whole team acknowledges the screw up, especially the people who didn’t do their portions and didn’t bother to tell anyone else.
Hold everyone accountable not just yourself.
#4 – Always Working Late Or Coming In Early
If you have a steep workload, make sure you’re constantly reprioritizing your tasks so you complete the most important and most urgent tasks first and leave the others for later.
If you constantly come in early or stay late at work, your colleagues will come to assume that’s your normal work day. And that leads to them to taking advantage of you. Another warning. If you develop this pattern and then you try to go back to a normal workday that may be perceived as you slacking off, which isn’t be good.
Use coming in early or staying late as a tool to show that you’re a dedicated employee. Don’t overuse it or you risk losing its intended effect.
#5 – Allowing Someone Else To Take Credit For Your Hard Work
You work hard. You’re diligent about finishing your projects on time. If someone else on the team takes credit for your work that should make you angry. Whatever your comfort level, make sure you politely speak up to that coworker or your boss and let them know what’s happening and that it isn’t right.
Here’s the thing: if you don’t get credit for your work, how will anyone know you’re a great employee? When review time comes, you may get the shaft if someone else is constantly taking credit for your efforts.
Don’t work hard only to let someone else steal all the glory. Stand up and speak up for yourself.
If you do any of these five things at work on a continuous basis, you’re not giving yourself enough credit so stop it!
Your key takeaway:
While it may be easier right now to just keep minimizing your efforts at work, all this low self-esteem-related behavior will catch up to you. You may not get the raise or promotion you hoped for or you may even get the boot.
Going back to the question I asked at the beginning, do you do any of these things at work? Tell me what you think in the comments below.
Want more? If you found this article helpful, check out my book: How To Be Happy At Work: Speak Up, Stay Positive, and Change Your Life on Amazon.