A study by the University of Florida found, “People with high opinions of themselves as teenagers and young adults drew bigger salaries in middle age than their less relevant counterparts.” So, let’s have a look at how your confidence and self-esteem might affect your pay.
Promotions and Pay Rises
You are less likely to apply for certain jobs or to try out for promotion if you are lacking in self-esteem. Maybe you have an unwillingness to put yourself out there because you think you are not capable, but we are often more capable than we think.
Those who lack self-confidence are also less often to negotiate pay-rises. This may boil down to a lack of self-worth and undervaluing your own time and skills, or it may be because you’re simply too uncomfortable to have that kind of conversation with your employer.
Here, we can apply a bunch of clichés… if you don’t try you won’t succeed, if you shoot for the moon and miss then you’ll fall among the stars, and so on and so forth. Basically, even if you don’t manage to land the promotion, get that pay rise, or get hired in that job you interview for, it is still worth trying.
It’s Not What you Know, it’s Who you Know
Yes, we know, another cliché here, but some of the opportunities we get in life come from our connections.
The more confident you are, the better you will be at networking and making these connections, meaning you may end up stumbling upon more job opportunities.
Additionally, if your job is client focussed, confidence is key, as you are more likely to come across as capable and like you know what you’re doing!
Communication
Being confident can improve your job performance, as it allows you to be more assertive, communicate with ease with others, and speak up about any ideas you might have. It also is an important component of any leadership role, so a lack of confidence could create a barrier to promotions which would mean you heading your own team.
On the other hand, a lack of confidence may mean you’re hesitant to contribute in team environments and so fail to showcase all of your skills.
By failing to speak up, you’re essentially denying yourself the opportunity to show your talent, help find solutions to problems and influence important decisions. Subsequently, you’re giving up the chance to build up your credibility at work, meaning that in the long-run you might miss out on promotions and salary increases.
Tips to Improve your Confidence at Work
Firstly, you may want to try using positive affirmations to help you challenge any unhelpful or negative thoughts. For example:
- I will do my best today
- I am worthy
- I am good at my job
- I am capable of handling any challenges that come my way
Repeating these affirmations, either out loud or in your head, is a good step towards reducing your self-criticism.
Body language is a good way of ‘tricking’ yourself into confidence. Stand up straight and try to maintain a healthy amount of eye contact… fake it ‘til you make it!
You should also build on your existing strengths. What are you particularly good at and how can you use this to help your job performance?
Attending professional development training is also worth considering, to learn new skills or develop existing ones. Being able to apply these new skills to your job could help improve your performance, in turn boosting your confidence.