Something I’ve noticed and always struggled with is my confidence in a professional setting. Whether it’s interacting with teachers, managers, people in customer service, I always tend to shy away from the thought of confrontation. This stands especially true when I want to ask questions or someone doubts/opposes me on a certain topic. I always stop myself from doubling down and that has led to a lot of missed opportunities much to my annoyance.
To make matters even worse, I can judge by someone’s tone of voice whether they’re being stern, getting annoyed, etc and this has stopped me from voicing my thoughts because I fear the idea of confrontation in such situations.
I came across a video where celebrities like Tom Cruise would shut down interviewers for crossing certain boundaries and it makes me reflect on how I could be more stern and direct with how I voice my thoughts and have the ability to put people in their place when necessary.