How Trusting Yourself Equals Success

For a long time, I would get really annoyed with my boss because he never had time to meet with me, and it felt like I had no support from him. After enough rounds of this, I realized that I was looking to him to tell me what to do and I wanted (read: needed) him to give me the approval so I could feel validated and valued.

This was a pattern I had held onto from my former manager when I was more junior. I was ALWAYS checking in, and running things by her and making sure I was getting every little thing approved.

One day I had a meeting with a peer for a project we were managing and I mentioned something like, “Maybe we should run this by Rebecca and Jason,” and she said, “Oh no, I don’t get Jason’s approval anymore. I know what I’m doing.” I was taken aback, and I felt myself drawn to this energy of sufficiency and ownership.

The difference was that she trusted herself that she was doing a great job and knew how to figure things out on her own.

Listen, I’m not saying we should never ask questions. Asking questions and getting curious at work are the best ways to learn a lot and catapult yourself into the stars.

BUT, if we’re always looking outward or to someone else who we think has more answers than we do, we begin to erode the trust we have in ourselves, and re-enforce a feeling that we don’t know how.

After that meeting, I began asking less questions, finding my own answers, and standing up for my own work. The result of practicing self-trust this way made me one of my bosses most trusted employees, and his first choice for promotion when everything else aligned.

If you’re frustrated about how much support you have at work, send me a message on the “Contact” page to set up a free consultation call to find out how you can own your work, step into your power and get promoted.