Introvert work conflicts start from within

Do you find yourself questioning your choice of career after you've already begun it? Many of us do, and yet for introverts, sometimes we talk ourselves out of the very career that gives us purpose - at the very time that we could actually do ourselves and our world the most good. And then we hang in the balance between purpose and results.



I can't tell you how many days I have questioned my own entrepreneurial/business choices. The calendar is thin in appointments and I believe it's a sign of my value to the market. So I question my focus. I begin a project I've never experienced and question my ability to carry it through. When I have exceptionally high results with clients I consider why I don't have more of them - is it my sales technique? Maybe I'm not cut out for this.

This comes from shifting my focus from purpose - what I'm so good at and possibly even greater, what I've already experienced that motivated me to enter this field - to fear.

The day I learned that I'm not the only who goes through this, I opened my eyes to a huge discovery. It's not about me. It's about behaving in a pattern that holds me back - Feeling not good enough. This is a pattern that we introverts fall into and yet can adjust out of, yet when I forget this, it creates major accountability issues.

It's no wonder most of the work conflicts introverts experience come from within. According to Laura Helgoe's work, Introvert Power,  there are 2 key triggers our conflicts start from.

2 times the introvert creates their own work conflict:
1. Having great ideas but not producing any activity from them. We are great thinkers, and when we've created an idea or concept that needs to move forward, we get in our own way when we question ourselves or think the process is not yet perfected, so it cannot be shared.
2. Letting others around us interrupt our work flow without communicating our needs. I used to think it more important to give ear to others than to honor the responsibilities in front of me. This is a habit that holds us back.

Tip for avoiding these work conflicts:
Remember what great idea motivated you into your current position. What purpose are you fulfilling by seeing it through and moving your efforts forward? Affirm this to restore meaning and motivation to your work.

We introverts don't see our collective good. Ideas are becoming society's power centers. We introverts are at the core of ideas and need to share them, move them forward to let these power centers fuel the world's progress. If our work conflicts start from within, they also end from within. Balance the concerns about quality with the drive to put them into action. It's our responsibility as professionals to keep moving forward.

Ask yourself this question to begin moving forward:
What motivated you into your current field? Reclaim this motivation and get moving forward with your purpose.