-Our beliefs are the vehicle that can take us far in life or hold us back-

Oprah W.

We all do it. Someone sitting at the desk during a break, someone during a meeting, someone while getting the house in order, someone while preparing the meal, someone while falling asleep at night. We all, more or less consciously, dream, hope, wish something for our future.

Some are conscious thoughts, some other are under the surface. You don’t realize them but they are costantly in action and have an important effect on your life because they usually shape the reality around you. Basing on your beliefs, you perceive things that happen, take decisions, choose to do or do not many things.

So, even when you think about work, when you plan to get back to work after a break or thrive in your career path, it becomes important to clarify what are your limiting beliefs and how they affect you: otherwise it would be like trying to decorate a house with a beautiful new furniture before to have cleaned it up.

The risk is to set goals, plan, dedicate a lot of energy and get only frustration because the result is not the one desired.

What is a limiting belief

It’s a thought-concept that our mind takes as truth or reality.

Beliefs involve us from a mental, emotional, spiritual and physical point of view, and it’s exactly because they are part of our life at so many levels that are such powerful.

Many define them “the lenses through which we see the world“ and that’s why they:

affect the way we perceive events
guide us into defining what is good, bad, dangerous, possible or impossible
define our expectations
affect our decisions and actions

Beliefs are like very effective virtual assistants who organize our life without let us notice them.

And if this means that when we have positive beliefs these will lead us to big achievements, it’s about the negative or limiting ones that we have to be aware and get rid of.

Where do they come from?

Usually we inherit them from our family, from what we’ve been told and taught as kids, from what we’ve observed or from experiences we did over the years.

Sometimes is that statement from a teacher who slagged us off in front of the class, that joke from a friend who ridiculed us or that behaviour of someone who hurt us.

We soak up and associate that kind of event to a certain kind of result and we will tend to expect the same result from similar events.

During my sessions I often ask “if you didn’t have restrictions of age, geography, money or other types, what would you be, do, have in life?“.

It seems an obvious question but the truth is that in 90% of cases it creates confusion and stiffness.
“Yeah, I wish I couldn’t have economic limits“
“It would be great to start a new career, but who can?”

I‘ve heard every kind of objections because, even if we are only hypotetically talking, the resistance in breaking our definition of what it is POSSIBLE is extremely high.

Exemples of limiting beliefs about work:

I’d like to get that job, but I’m not qualified enough
I’d like to be a mom and work at the same time, but I can’t have everything in life
Only those who are good with PR can get ahed
I’d like to change job/career, but I’m too old for it
I’d like to start my own business but, considering how the economy works today, it’s impossible

HOW TO FIND WHICH ARE YOUR LIMITING BELIEFS ABOUT WORK

Where you don’t have what you want?
Where you feel you’ve tried everything but you didn’t get the desired result?

Take a pen and paper and dedicate some time to analyze these areas of your job situation. Write down which justifications and reasons you give to yourself.
Which story are you telling yourself?

HOW TO HANDLE THEM

Once identified your beliefs, I suggest you to face them one at a time and for each of them:

write it down: seeing it on paper helps you to be more aware about what is conditioning you
look for its origin: when did I start to think this way? Basing on which events didi I decide it’s true?
call into question: do you really think so or it’s just a statement that has been told to you for 30 years? Look for objective elements, different behaviours from people you that proves you that your beliefs doesn’t correspond to reality. Assume what would happen if the opposite was true
assess the consequences: if you keep thinking that it’s true, which effects will it have on your life? What decision will you take? What does it prevent you to do?
replace it: after having called into question, try to rephrase it in a positive way. Create the corresponding positive belief
take off its nourishment: which are situations, people, gestures that make it strong? Try to avoid or eliminate them
take action: what would you do without that belief? Try to make small daily gestures that don’t respect it and observe what happens

As in every area of our life, also in this case it all begins with us, with our choice to be aware of what holds us from achieving our job goals and from the choice to take the necessary actions to change.

Here you can find a worksheet you can use in order to understand what are your LIMITING BELIEFS

Discover what your beliefs are is the first step of your journey. From this new point you can proceed in defining your goals and make a plan to achieve them.

If you would like to have a dedicated support I can help you to:

clean your path from beliefs that don’t belong to you
define what are the one that will serve you
gain clarity about what you want in your life and career
set up an action plan to achieve your goals

Contact me for a FREE DISCOVERY SESSION writing to giada.varvello@gmail.com

WHO DECIDES WHAT YOU CAN ACHIEVE IN YOUR CAREER?