“I’m afraid I’ll make a mistake!”
“Noooo, tomorrow is my report already in front of the managers.”
“Oh no! Here’s another Karen customer.. “
These are just a few lines that you might have already said during your working time, and it makes you wonder, “When will I ever feel confident in my profession?”
But did you know that very few professionals feel 100% confident and relaxed all day, every day? In fact, most of us feel stressed in our jobs, which eventually makes us feel less confident and more afraid of the outcome of our every action. This fear is where our workplace fears come from.
Now you’re thinking, “What workplace fears are you talking about? I’m not afraid of work. ” So here are some of the most common fears we encounter in our everyday work life that you may be unaware of.
- Making errors on the job.
- Speaking in front of a group of people.
- Not being able to handle the workload.
- Being rejected.
- Being left out.
- Conflict with co-workers.
- Conflict with your higher ups.
- Dealing with difficult customers or clients.
- Breaking down from all of the stress.
- Getting fired.
Importance Of Learning Our Biggest Workplace Fears
Just like with any kind of fear, fear helps us, it protects us. It makes us alert to stressful events and prepares us to deal with them. (Check out our articles about the other kinds of fear here.)
Feeling these workplace fears is natural and there’s nothing wrong with them. It is actually important that you know what you’re afraid of at work, unlike when you’re not aware of it. By knowing your biggest workplace fears, it helps you focus on where to improve yourself. It helps you to be more careful with your actions and not let you act impulsively, which may result in more complicated events.
Most importantly, knowing your workplace fears will help you figure out how to manage them and lead you to a better working life.
How To Overcome Your Biggest Workplace Fears?
You can start out by taking our Fear Response Quiz to help you identify how you respond to fears and be able to check if you’ve been doing the right and healthy fear response for you.
One important step in overcoming your biggest workplace fear is facing the fear itself, because how will you overcome something you don’t know or you’re not aware of?
Another way to overcome it is to transform your fears into positive ones. Instead of focusing on the negative sides of the situation, take a look at the positive ones. For example, if you’re feeling nervous about reporting tomorrow in front of your managers, try to think, “I’m prepared for this. I have my presentation and I have reviewed my work. There’s nothing to worry about with someone who’s prepared. ” In this way, it can also alleviate your stress and eventually lessen your fear.
Aside from transforming your fear into a positive one, you should transform yourself as an anxious leader into an anxiety-reducing leader. The best way to do this is to read our free eBook here. It will help you learn how to become an anxiety-reducing leader.
And most importantly, take a break! Don’t be a workaholic! Enjoy that weekend of yours; have a getaway with your family and friends; or enjoy a relaxing spa day. Do anything that might relax you. Remember that your own mental health is way more important than work.
It is important to take note that if your fear is already unmanageable and already affecting your daily functioning, please do not hesitate to seek help from a mental health professional like us. Shirley Therapeutic and Consulting Services, LLC is a diverse therapy clinic that can meet the needs of anyone. If you’d like to talk about your mental health, feel free to message us here.
If you want to learn more about your fear, not only specific to the workplace, check out our other articles here:
Fear Responses Impact On Your Relationship
References
Smith, J. (2015, June 12). 11 common fears people have at work – and how to deal with them. Business Insider. Retrieved May 23, 2022, from https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-deal-with-common-work-fears-2015-6
White, S. K., & Writer, S. (2016, July 28). How to manage the 7 biggest workplace fears. CIO. Retrieved May 23, 2022, from https://www.cio.com/article/238737/how-to-manage-the-7-biggest-workplace-fears.html
Workopolis. (2012, October 29). What scares us the most at work? Workopolis Blog. Retrieved May 23, 2022, from https://careers.workopolis.com/advice/what-scares-us-the-most-at-work/
