Dear Confidence,
Where the heck are you? I know that I am smart enough, I excelled in my Speech Pathology classes, I passed my board exam, and have landed a job after completing 4 internships where all my supervisor stating I was ready to be a SLP…
Where is all this self doubt and lack of self confidence coming from? Where are all these “failing” feelings coming from?
I think it is merely the transition from being a SLP intern under a supervisor to now being the only SLP in the building… maybe?
Well please come back soon, because I am sick of feeling the blues. It isn’t good for my self esteem, my interactions (friends/family), my mental health, and my waistline.
Love, Molly
Thanks to Google [I love Google]: I saw someone post this in reply to a SLP who was in their first year and felt similar to me:
What you describe is so normal - please hang in there!!! The fact that you care that you are being effective shows that you are a good SLP!!! It is always good to question whether you are doing your best and keep alert for anything you could do to improve. This does not mean that you are not doing a good job already though. Experience will build confidence!!!
My supervisor also stated that: “I know that confidence is the hard part just remember no one knows more about speech therapy than you!”
Some good tips on building self confidence that I found:
- Take action. Get it done.
- Face your fears.
- Understand in what order things happen
- Prepare
- Realize that failure or being wrong will not kill you
- Get to know you and what you want in life
Yeah, yeah easier said than done. Right now I am going to stop loathing in my feelings of being a failure. I am going to life my head up high, walk like I mean business, smile often, and be the “expert” that I am in the field of speech therapy. Didn’t someone wise once say Fake it till you make it. I am going to apply that sang to my confidence level right now…and maybe if I keep pretending and with more experience it will come naturally.
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Q: How was your job transition? Have you ever felt a lack of confidence in yourself?
awww it will get better, i promise! you are awesome. you are so smart and so beautiful. you're just hitting a bump in the road.
ReplyDeleteyou can do it! I do definitely think this is so normal when you first start a job. I'm working as an undergrad research assistant and I was sOOO timid when I was first running my part of the experiment because I thought I was 'too dumb' but now i've gotten the hang of it and I am so much more confident! I Think it takes time
ReplyDeleteI just started a job at a learning center for kids with disabilities and I'm still trying to gain confidence. I always worry that I will do something wrong and won't follow all the "rules" to a T. Sometimes it is so hard to know whether I am getting through to the client or if I am doing all that I can to truly make a difference for them. I totally understand and I'm going through the same feelings!
ReplyDeletei've never posted here before, but i love that you wrote this! i'm starting my first year in the "adult" world, even after having gone to grad school and being near top of the class, all of that...and i am suddently feeling all these insecurities and self-doubt over whether i'm smart enough, qualified enough, etc. i know it's all part of the transition though, so definitely hang in there!
ReplyDelete