When you ask someone about their ‘beliefs’, the reaction of most people will be to cast their minds towards religion. However, when we discuss Beliefs that may be halting your career, we are talking about a very different subject.
Specifically, we are talking about self-belief, or in many cases, a lack of it. But what causes our Beliefs to hinder our career or business progress and other areas of our lives?
We act in accordance to our beliefs and these actions determine our results. The old saying ‘I’ll believe it when I see it’ should really be ‘I see it when I believe it’. We only really see or hear what we want to hear. How many times have you been given a compliment but quickly dismissed it, simply because you don’t believe it?
An example of this is the popular misconception that you have to possess a degree to go on to have a successful career. Simon Cowell, Jamie Oliver and one of my role models, Richard Branson are living proof that this is not the case. But if you’re one of many who consider this to be true, it is an immediate example of a belief potentially halting your career progression.
‘for there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.’ Hamlet, Shakespeare
Our beliefs are very clever; if we focus on the belief such as ‘I am useless at speaking in public’, of course we are. We will unconsciously behave in a way so that we prove our beliefs.
There are three main ways in which we obtain our beliefs:
What we hear: Some families have catchphrases, things that are said that will only really resonate with people, particularly children, within that house. Occasionally, this can impact a career; I once spoke to a client whose mother used to tell him ‘he was a big boy now’. This ended-up affecting his career, as he set himself unrealistic expectations.
What we see: As the saying goes – ‘Monkey see, monkey do!’ We see behaviour from people of influence and sub-consciously try and model ourselves on them. Another previous client had inadvertently modelled herself on both of her (shy) parents. Eventually, through coaching, she transformed her beliefs about herself and as a result is now a very different person.
What we feel: We all have instances that stick in our mind. Many of these can again be from childhood, bad experience of speaking in-front of class-mates at school has left many scared of public speaking in their adult lives.
Changing your Beliefs
Remember, though, that beliefs are not facts. They are actually opinions based on a psychological state where we hold something that we consider to be true.
This means that, if they are holding you back, you can do something about them. Think how different your life could be if you decided to change your beliefs, in order to trust yourself and build up your confidence.
The first step to changing long-held misbeliefs is to challenge them. By doing this, you are already minimising the problem.
My Confidence Home Study Programme gives you the full five steps you need to take in order to change your beliefs and, in turn, take a big step towards boosting your Self Esteem. Click here to find out more.
Lindsey Reed is an experienced coach who specialises in boosting the confidence of professionals. Email Lindsey@glows-coaching.co.uk or call 01832 280168 to see how you can improve your working life.
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