In life, we come across many people who carry some perception about us. As humans, we spend a lot of time living through that perception. Is that important. Others' perception of us changes concerning time, situation, and mood. Since we follow that perception, we keep revising our course of Journey and work hard to live up to that perception. But, look what happens to our inner self, we lose our individuality, and we forget our fabric and our core strength.
I have many examples in my life where I saw people changing my perception of me in different situations. Therefore, I ensure my beliefs are intact and try not to get shaken by any external factors.
Incorporate life, we follow the appraisal process, which defines a career for you in the organization. I remember a few such incidents. I was sitting in one of the appraisal cycles a few years back, and my supervisor rated me low for that cycle and said I needed to improve. During the 2008- 2009 timeframe (US recession), the economic conditions were not favorable and severely impacted Indian firms, and so was ours. I respected his decision and walked off from the room. However, my belief and inner conscious said, "this is perception and not the truth ."I continued my job the way I had been doing it for years, with absolutely no change.
After six months, I got a chance to sit through the next appraisal cycle with the same supervisor. This time my rating was in the Top 20. He commented, "YOU SHOULD WALK AS PROUD LADY," from the room. You have improved your performance from the last appraisal cycle. The statement was not convincing to me. I stopped by and asked what makes you think like this. Trust me. I changed nothing in the last six months. My way of working has not changed in the previous 15 years. The only change I bring every day is adding my experience while working. I have accumulated experience with every step. This experience has turned into my beliefs. As I moved on with life, my thoughts got stronger. I know where I stand, how much I know, and how much knowledge gap I have. Situations keep on changing, corporates make decisions based on the external market, but should they affect your beliefs.
Do not get me wrong that I do not respect the feedback, had my boss given me the feedback on the gaps with facts, I might have thought it through. However, my performance was rated basis the supervisor's perception and industry influence.
Make sure our belief does not shake by others' perception and does not fluctuate with the market condition. If our thought process gets surprised with time and with the situation, we unknowingly follow someone's belief, behave as per others' perceptions, and follow someone else's path.
It's always good to learn from others' experiences. However, one should know the difference between the beliefs from the incident and thoughts from the past.
"Standing up for your beliefs builds self-confidence and self-esteem."
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment