You’re underestimating yourself. Stop doing these 8 things. You’re underestimating yourself. Stop doing these 8 things.
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 Read this with an intention to learn and work on your areas of improvement. Cheers!!

1. Being uncomfortable with other people’s success

Being jealous is a normal condition of humans, and most of us experience it from time to time. However, going beyond that leads to a heart full of bitterness and destructive emotions, which leads to uncomfortable situations whenever you see people you know succeed.

Most of the time, without even questioning, we are convinced our friends are happier, wealthier, healthier, and more talented than us. We become mad internally, and it hurts our mental wellbeing.

I believe everyone is talented, and God has a good plan for our future. It is only a matter of time, willingness to learn, and being resilient. Develop the habit of clapping for other people’s successes until yours come.

Never underestimate your abilities due to someone else fortune.


2. Having a hard time mentioning your strengths and weaknesses.

Self-awareness is core for success; understanding who you are, what areas you’re good at, and what areas you need to improve makes you stand in any situation. I understand It’s not easy to reflect on ourselves, especially when we feel most things happening in our life have nothing to do with our character.

But am asking you to give yourself the space and time necessary to self-reflect. Avoid distractions this time, just you and yourself. Try to understand what your value is, what are the things you’re doing better at and proud of, and what are the things you’re bad at that hinder achieving your goals. Spend time reading, writing, meditating, or practicing other solo activities to connect with yourself.

Try to give yourself 30 quiet, distraction-free minutes a day.


3. Being with other people makes you nervous.


Human beings’ character differs. We have introverts and extroverts. But this has nothing to do with being nervous around people. The term we normally use is having social anxiety, being uncomfortable in social situations because you’re worried other people might judge you. Having that negativity in mind throws away a number of opportunities from you, from having new friends, getting a date, and many more.

If you think you have social anxiety, the most important question to ask yourself is whether it prevents you from achieving your goals.

Remember, everyone is self-conscious. Social anxiety is common, and many people experience it. If you’re at a party and feel really anxious about introducing yourself to new people, remember that other people might feel the same way, play your part by stepping out of your comfort zone and building those great connections you have always dreamed of.


4. It’s hard to build or maintain a personal or professional network

Networks give people access to information, for example, advice and problem-solving assistance, among other benefits. Over time, this information access helps acquire the necessary knowledge and competencies to succeed at work and social life and better handle challenges.

According to Dorie Clark, he said: “your network not only helps you thrive in your current job; it also helps you uncover your next one.” However, if you’re still struggling to build and maintain one, you are not in a good position to succeed smoothly in your career.

Wake up, go and create long-lasting connections today; Prioritize, Show you care, Offer help, Regroup with people from time to time and Be strategic on social media.

Learn more HERE


5. You don’t have clear personal goals.

If you’re among people who feel they’re adrift in the world. You work hard, but you don’t seem to get anywhere worthwhile. You might feel that way because you haven’t spent enough time thinking about what you want from life and haven’t set your formal goals. Maybe I should ask you, would you plan to travel this end of the year (during the Xmas holiday perhaps) without a real idea of where you want to go? Probably not!

Setting personal goals is a powerful process for thinking about your ideal future and motivating yourself to turn your vision of this future into reality.

Create your “big picture,” and identify the goals you want to achieve. Break them down into the smaller and smaller targets that you must hit to reach them. And finally, make that one step and start working on them ASAP.


6. Other people have to recommend you.

There are two kinds of people in life: those who take action and are ready to showcase their strength to others, and the other type are those who are always waiting for direction, waiting for other people to refer them to jobs, relationships, among other opportunities. Which one are you? Most likely, at this moment, you are validating that you are a person who takes action, a go-getter, and takes charge when or if needed.

Being recommended is not an issue, but why should you wait if you have an opportunity to build and sell yourself? Believe in yourself, build the confidence needed and go for what you want today. Do you remember what Milton Berle once said, If Opportunity doesn’t Knock, Build a Door.


7. Poor learning practices.

Aren’t you inspired to have a growth mindset? Being a continual learner is the key to the most successful individuals in the world. Acquiring new skills and knowledge builds confidence and expertise in most of your technical areas. If you don’t create the habit of learning daily, you’re underestimating your ability to do more and achieve more.

I developed a 30 days plan to ensure I am learning new things or relearning old things every day. And this can be accommodated using different resources which are massively available everywhere, such as TEDx videos, online courses, books, magazines, and newspapers, amongst many others.

What are you waiting? Build those learning muscles today and watch yourself excelling in your social and professional life.


8. You don’t learn from failures.

I have failed many times in my life. From when I was a kid until today, failures continued. I didn’t get number of jobs I applied for. Despite reaching the final shortlisting stage, I was rejected for a fellowship I really wanted to attend. I’ve pitched my ideas to several people without a buy-in. I had an idea for a new way of doing things where I was working, and it didn’t work out. Even some relationships and friendships failed.

But along the way, I learned. I learned from my mistakes. I learned what my strengths were. I learned where I wanted to take my career. I learned that failures don’t define me. I learned that to succeed, I needed to fail. And I learned that getting better at something is possible even after you’ve failed.

The most successful people in the world have failed, often. How are you learning from failure? What lessons can failure teach you? Where can you find gratitude in failure?


In Conclusion

Author: Abdulkarim Bihaki

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I really appreciate! If you have any questions, input, or recommendations, kindly feel free to drop me a WhatsApp message HERE.

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Abdulkarim Bihaki
Written by

Abdulkarim Bihaki

Coordinator; Advisory at Empower | Content Creator - Youth 4 Global Goals | Founder - African Youth Lens | SDGs Enthusiast | AIESEC Alumni | Blogger

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