Jan 26, 2020 in Reputation

Your Insecurities Can Become Your Entire Reputation

Our insecurities, if they come out in an negative manner in the eyes of other people, negatively affect our reputation.

We often are not self aware of our insecurities. We don't see them like other people do and depending on what type of defense mechanisms we exhibit, if they are perceived as negative in the minds of other people, our reputation will suffer.

This can prevent us from accomplishing what we are pursuing or become a catalyst for negative feedback of different types we will receive.

What is helpful then is to learn exactly how we respond to our insecurities, which can be done by asking those close to us in our circle of influence or being courageous and humbly, politely asking people with who we have had a disagreeable interaction. 

We can then teach ourselves new, more helpful ways to think and respond when we feel our insecurities are triggered. By doing this, we will not cost ourselves opportunities in life that are important to us nor will we create annoyance or anger in other people that will have them react in a way towards us that is natural and expected yet we won't accept well as we will feel bad. 

Learn to make these very important adjustments or "rewiring" in our lives and uur reputation will improve. That reputation is our calling card (positive, negative or neutral) - in our professional and personal lives. 

Most people don't realize how critically important their reputation is and how it plays a significant role in what we get to experience and don't get to experience, the frequency and degree of positive to negative moments and benefits we will have in life.

If you struggle with how you are being perceived and would like help, there are always ways to further develop. You can work to rewire your thinking, decisions and behavior yourself through self education and personal development. You can reach out to trusted family or friends, psychologists and trusted experts of many kinds that possess the expertise that you want to develop by gaining invaluable insight and assistance and work with and practice with them.

Move forward in one of these ways and you will wire your mind, actions and responses in a manner that will create the improvements and experiences you seek. Be consistent and see all that life can really be for you.
 

Michael Toebe is a specialist for reputation and crisis, serving organizations and high-profile individuals. He is the publisher of the Reputation Times newsletter on LinkedIn and the Michael Toebe Newsletter on Twitter. He regularly writes advisory articles for business magazines and is the author of the upcoming book Reputation Crisis: a Conversational, Professional, Problem-Solving Guide.

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