Inner Excellence and Career Success

I just returned to work after taking a break for three months. While I hadn’t been away too long, I was surprised to find myself insecure – Do I still know how to work? Are my analytical, leadership, and communication skills still up to par? Can I deal with difficult personalities and office politics? Ultimately, am I still as good as I used to be?

Initially, I found myself “rusty”. My first conference call with a lot of senior people went okay. I found myself a little tongue-tied, my language a little off, and my communication less clear. I went home dejected, and afraid that I am no longer as good as I used to be.

I stepped back and thought about what has been going on with me, and came up with a different perspective – maybe I’m feeling “rusty” because I’m spending 50% of my mental and emotional energy worrying about whether I’m doing okay, while only 50% of my mental energy is left to actually do the work. What be the harm for me to assume the best of me, rather than the worst of me?

Well, to make a long story short, I decided to believe in myself instead of focusing on my doubts. I decided to give myself a break if something isn’t perfect. Things ended up working out a lot better.

My point: I realized that self-management skills (the ability to manage my own perception of myself) are just as important, if not more so, than people skills or analytical skills, to career success. I can have all the external skills in the world, but if I constantly question my abilities or look for where I’m not good, I can defeat myself internally and create a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Here are three things I learned from this experience:

1. Inner excellence is key to career success. I knew I had the skills but I was psyching myself out. Everyone has doubts or frustrations. We’re all human. What makes us great is how we can stay confident, patient, and resilient in spite of any momentary negative thinking. I recommend reading “Mind Gym” by Gary Mack to hone your self-management skills. It’s an athlete’s guide to inner excellence. It talks about how important the mental game is to an athlete’s success, as opposed to just physical skills.
2. Surround yourself with supporters. It’s important to surround yourself with people who believe in the best of you. That positive energy can also build your inner strength, especially when you need a helping hand. On the flip side, keep a distance from naysayers, no matter what your relationship is with them.
3. Developing your inner strength is a life journey. My example above shows that self-doubt can creep in at any time. Even though I know all these concepts, I still need to remind myself to practice them. Inner excellence is built and tested over time. As life and career change, we’re always faced with new challenges. The key is to be aware of how your inner dialogue affects you, and how to always focus on the best in you. Only when we see the best in ourselves can we inspire others to see it, too.