Job insecurity: how the fear of losing your job prevents you from growing and developing

Stable work with a normal income is at the top of the goal list of practically any adult. This is not surprising — the loss or forced job change makes you feel quite uncomfortable and agitated, especially if it is a necessity, not a decision made by yourself.

The fear of losing a job, contrary to certain ideas, does not spur a person to work harder and progress quicker. Instead, on the contrary — you find yourself in a difficult situation, worry, make a lot of mistakes, and lose your former productivity.

1. You are constantly under stress

Worrying about what will happen to you tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, in a week and a month, you are always in tension. You can’t force yourself to quit thinking about the future, be productive, and rest regularly. All this seems unattainable because there is a ghostly threat of losing your work.

And you may not have any legitimate reasons to worry at all. The boss is satisfied with your performance, coworkers treat you well, and consumers offer nice feedback, but you still feel threatened deep down. Fear chains you, and you find yourself unable to function the same way as previously.

Due to continual tension, your performance indicators may likely decrease; you will stop getting enough sleep, start being late, take criticism too near to your heart, and expect threats from all sides. You know perfectly well what this is loaded with. Over time, you will burn out emotionally, be weary, and work on your last breath.

2. You are taking unnecessary precautions

You start being extra careful when you’re nervous about having to find a new job because of the chance of losing your current one. You become stuck on old tactics that have already been proven effective, forget any additional responsibilities, and irritate your coworkers and superiors by asking them to approve or condemn your decisions.

You do this because you are afraid of making a mistake and tarnishing your reputation, but your desire to remain in your comfort zone will play a cruel joke on you and cause you to make a mistake. The company’s leader is looking for someone who can take the initiative and is accountable for joining his team. If you conceal these attributes, you will remain in the exact location for a significant time. As time passes, people won’t be able to rely on you, and the extreme caution you show will make it difficult for others to recognize your professionalism. If you want to avoid taking any risk at all costs, even the tiniest ones, you will miss out on opportunities to learn new things, grow as a person, and advance professionally.

3. You make an effort to avoid being the centre of attention while others are around

When you are worried about being fired from your job, you could conclude that the best way to protect your position is to avoid drawing attention to yourself. You will quit asking questions, expressing your opinion, and making any ideas to blend in as much as possible with your coworkers and employer. Consider that achieving your goal will result in more negative outcomes than positive ones for you. You will no longer be seen in any favourable situations, in addition to the fact that you will not be observed in any unfavourable conditions. In other words, you will stop standing out.

If in the past you were able to be a useful employee due to the ambitious ideas you had, the overfulfilled plan you had, and the drive you had for growth and development, then at the period when you chose to lay low, all of the reputation you have achieved will be destroyed overnight. The decision is, of course, entirely up to you, but before you make it, give some serious consideration to whether or not you are willing to throw away all of your previous efforts to get a little bit more sleep tonight.

4. You are acutely aware of any of your failures

If you have a deep attachment to your job and are constantly worried that you will be fired, then any error you make will feel like a life-changing catastrophe. You will start to chastise yourself, believe that you have not done enough, and question your professionalism as a result of the unpleasant responses to your failures that you have been having. This will affect the calibre of your job and the goals and prospects you have for your future.

You must be willing to learn from your mistakes and be open to new experiences to grow and acquire the knowledge and abilities you need. Making mistakes is an essential component of the educational process. And if you feel their sting, it will be difficult for you to find the fortitude to mature and venture into uncharted territory.

5. You judge yourself based on how you compare to others

You can’t help but form the habit of comparing yourself to others when you live in constant fear of being fired from your work. Because of the way your brain is wired, there is little you can do about the fact that you are calculating how much more valuable you are than the other employees, how many abilities you have, and how likely it is that you will not be fired. The problem is that you only pay attention to those superior to you in terms of intelligence and physical ability.

It is doubtful that you will begin to compare yourself with workers who have qualifications that are lower than yours, but doing so would be fruitless. Under this circumstance, you would be able to evaluate the real condition of affairs objectively. You enter into a vicious spiral and endure additional stress due to the realization that you are not performing up to par and are not immune to the possibility of losing your job since you can be replaced.

6. You will find that you are unable to think creatively

The ability to be creative is an essential quality for many different types of jobs. If you are consistently in a state of depression, you can find that you lose the ability to think creatively and come up with original ideas. It is impossible to have inspiration or concentration when you are under constant stress, suffering anxiety, and doubting yourself and your talents. All of these things are out of your control.

You won’t be able to approach tasks with a level head unless you figure out how to deal with the stresses and experiences you’ve had in the past. To accomplish this, the first step is to unwind and bring your thoughts under control.

7. You don’t use new opportunities

Because you are unduly concerned about losing your job, you can miss out on the many new possibilities that will present to you along the way. Your preoccupation with what you already possess will reach its peak, and as a result, you won’t pay any attention to what they have to say to you. You are free to accept a decent job offer just because you want to keep your current level of security, even if the position comes with favorable working circumstances and attractive compensation.

You will need to let something significant in your past go very frequently if you are going to mature and acquire the essential knowledge. This can be both unfortunate and lucky, and there is a good chance that you will be forced to walk away from the work that you hold to with such a strong connection at some point in your life.