Just a Spoonful of Sugar

Several weeks ago I shared with you about a journey that began my relationship between us – Worx, you and me.

And it has been one amazing trip; every stumble that incurred, every stumble overrode, every cupcake and every 5k.

“I give it a year,” -Laura.

“I’ll take it!”-Momina

However, somewhere between that blog post and this one it happened: The performance review. The days leading up to it I somehow had convinced myself of every worse case scenario.

·      Your work is consistently overdue
·      Your work is inefficient
·      Your work is unsatisfactory
·      Your work is just not worxing

And, Lord, please no, do not let Donald Trump pop out from the minimalistic office space with comb-over  flying and finger pointing, “You’re fired!”

(Okay, that was never a fear of mine, but if you’re going to get fired, you might as well do it right.)

I took a notebook in the meeting but should I have taken a Kleenex box instead?

And call me a girl but I did cry, yet for different reasons.

I’m an addict of The Office and there are two kinds of employees in that show when it came to their performance reviews: Those trying to get promotions. And those trying to avoid the review altogether.

I didn’t want to avoid the review.

I didn’t want a promotion.

I wanted confirmation to my mental diatribe.

But ultimately I didn’t know what I needed.

Laura did. (Huh. Guess that’s why she’s my boss. My leader.)

You see, there’s a fine line between confidence and arrogance.

And, what I was lacking was confidence in my work.

·      My work was not overdue.
·      My work was not inefficient
·      My work was not unsatisfactory

It wasn’t about my worxing capabilities. It was about my confidence capabilities. And with a spoonful of sugar the medicine, the performance review, went down quite well. Quite well, indeed. And that began my confidence boost.

We all suffer from self-doubt and self- consciousness at some time in our lives:

It’s what we do with those insecurities that matter most.

• Step One: Own It – You have a skill set, so use it no matter what others may say about it. Even when you have doubts: Do it. Even when times are tough: Keep tackling it. Others may even see things in you that you cannot see for yourself.

• Step Two: Speak It – I went in my meeting and spoke the mental battle aloud. Confront what’s troubling you, and you are one step closer to defeating your doubts.

• Step Three: Critique It – Sometimes those concerns may be real; there’s always room for improvement. Medicine isn’t intended to change you; it’s intended to nourish and heal you.

• Step Four: Celebrate It – Whether it’s a high-five, a five-star review, a five-year anniversary or five consecutive days of being on time, accept the compliments. Accept client testimonies on your behalf and allow them to replace your self-doubt.

No matter your body type, the time of day or what your doctor says – a spoonful of sugar always helps the medicine go down. Some of us may just need a pinch, others a sip. Some need an entire cup, but no matter what just a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down.

Maybe I’m one of those that needed a cup, but I’m building my Vitamin C (confidence) deficiency back up.

And it’s feeling mighty supercalifragilisticexpialidcious!