How Stress Is Killing Your Career

Performance anxiety can keep you from getting what you deserve at work. Harshita Dagha has tips on how to keep fear from bossing you around.

- Harshita Dagha

My hard work used to repeatedly go unacknowledged.It was heart wrenching to watch competitive colleagues climb the ladder, succeed and eventually become my bosses,” says Richa*, 30, a digital marketing executive, who was employed with a multinational firm. She was one of the most diligent candidates in the department— disciplined, responsible and enthusiastic. And yet, for the third year in a row, she didn’t get the promotion she wanted. Despite being a hard worker, she was unable to deliver on certain aspects of the job such as making presentations, working in a team or socialising with colleagues at business parties and on trips. And the more she worried about under-performing on those fronts, the harder it became for her to function at even the most basic levels. Performance anxiety is the persistent phobia or anxiousness of not being able to do your job well or deal with colleagues, clients or stressful situations. This could be a direct result of the circumstances you face at your workplace or more deep-rooted issues, which have accumulated over time.