The best piece of advice to challenge fears when starting a new job

When you start a new job, there are many natural and normal fears that come along with it.

Things like:

• Am I going to be any good at this?
• Will my teammates like me?
• What if I make a big mistake early on?

I recently “virtually” walked into a new role, with my ears on alert.

I want to soak up all the wisdom and knowledge from those that have already been working here.

I want to everything I say to be a question and to actively listen to the answers, taking plentiful notes.

I want to focus on relationship building with my new teammates, even if it is virtual.

And, I keep thinking I’m about to fail. That I’m not good enough.

The other day, I had a talk with my big-brother-from-another-mother/customer experience mentor, Jeremy Watkin. He asked me how things were going at the new company.

I poured out these fears on a Slack conversation over on CX Accelerator, an online community of like minded customer experience professionals:

His reply was so simple, so real. I had to step back and look in the mirror to remember that yup, I’m human and this is normal to feel this way.

There is nothing wrong with feeling awkward or having fears around starting a new role. It doesn’t mean that it won’t be easy. It doesn’t mean that there will not be discomfort or mistakes.

It’s very easy to get caught up in the swirl of things, especially for us recovering people-pleasers.

And good golly, I needed this reminder to bring me back to reality. Thanks, Jeremy!