Do you also feel less confident over time?

Question

It seems that each year I get less confident about my work. Coworkers tell me everything is fine and the quality of my work is okay but I don't feel like I'm doing my best anymore.Shouldn't I be feeling more confident and not the opposite? I have 18 years of experience in my area and it's only getting worse.

JohnFen · Accepted Answer

The curse of being an expert is that experts tend to be more aware of the limits of their knowledge than people of lesser experience. It takes experience to know what it is you don't really know. Thus the old observation that someone new to a field tends to be full of certainty and those who are experienced in the field tend to be full of doubt.Could that be the source of your increasing lack of confidence? If so, then perhaps you should focus on what should be the source of confidence for you: your ability to effectively problem-solve.