Hacks for Limiting Beliefs
We all have them. What are you doing to combat them?
Over the past year, I’ve been bumbling around on here and LinkedIn, trying to write consistently to
1) get better at writing
2) to build a business and
3) to connect with others
I’ve come here to share my big bets, exciting wins and fast fails in vulnerable ways. But it’s never changed the fact that fear runs deep within me.
Fear that that momentum I’ve built in my business will one day slow down, then collapse. Anxiety that a quiet week could turn into a quiet quarter. Regret around early choices I made that don’t feel optimal right now.
I could go on.
Often in building my business, I’ve felt like the imposter I coach product people not to feel like.
My fears and anxieties get a lot of air time in my head. They’re always vying for my attention, and on my weakest days, they are running the show.
Though I’ve got some great “coworkers” and a coach, working for yourself requires a tremendous amount of belief in yourself. And in my case, an uncomfortable amount of it. I’m from the Midwest. I’ve never taken a compliment easily nor have I taken positive feedback in stride.
So building a business has been a two pronged journey:
it’s a lesson in actually building the business and
it’s a lesson in strengthening the muscle behind it all: my mind.
Coaching the Mind 🧠
Mindset coaching is uniquely challenging. I can tell clients all how wrong their perception of themselves really is. But I can’t convince them to have self belief. And so lately, I’ve relied on data for mindset coaching.
Scarcity Mindset
When I ask clients “What do you fear the most?” it’s often a thing they’ve already done/proven/have. Even when they’ve lost it (i.e. money, job, relationship), they’ve found it again. They have a track record of wins, no matter how many setbacks they incur. So as a coach, I simply mirror their track record back to them. Sometimes in the form of what they’ve shared with me, sometimes in the form of reviewing their resume. When they see their track record themselves, it’s jarring. And it inevitably breaks the limiting belief.
Untangling Misperceptions
Many of my clients regularly believe that they’re doing a shitty job, that their coworkers think so lowly of them that they possibly can’t be the leader they need to be. So as a coach, I prompt them to gather peer feedback. 95% of the time their self perception is so off, with the feedback positive and neutral at best. When they get their peer feedback, they breathe a sigh of relief. And it inevitably breaks the limiting belief.
Limiting Beliefs
The farther I get in my own journey and the more I work to support others on theirs, I realize the thing that stops us all the most, in whatever pursuit we have, is the limiting beliefs we have about ourselves.
Anxiety fuels “what we can’t do”
And fear fuels, “why we can’t do it”
But it’s not the market, your manager, a problematic coworker, partner, family member or foe. It’s your limiting beliefs getting in your own way.
Myself included.
What would it be like to get out of your own way?
I am far from having a perfect mindset, but I’ve come a long way in a year.
For my 1-year solopreneur anniversary (🎉) I’m hosting a free workshop for product people curious to break through their limiting beliefs.
It’s called Unlock Your Product Potential and its happening April 30th 1pm EST / 10am PST.