Belief - a principle, proposition, idea, etc, accepted as true; opinion; conviction
Limiting belief – A belief that is held either consciously or subconsciously that serves as an obstacle to manifesting and attracting what you want; something that you believe to be true about yourself (that really is not true) that prevents you from moving forward as you'd like.
How we think about things, or our mindset, is critical to our success. A positive mindset is necessary for a successful outcome. A major factor in how we think about ourselves in relation to finding a new career or a new job is our beliefs about ourselves. Some of these beliefs can be so powerful in stopping us that it is important that we deal with them from the beginning.
Our beliefs are not in-born. The beliefs that we hold have come from what we have been told by parents, teachers, other family members, friends, the culture around us and from our own thoughts and experiences.
Our beliefs fall into two categories: supportive and limiting. As stated above, a limiting belief is one that you hold as true but is not true and that prevents you from living the life you want.
Most of these limiting beliefs are unconscious, so it is critical that you start to notice the conversation that goes on inside your head, silent but deadly. The only way to move forward is to identify and challenge these beliefs.
One of the beliefs that I have struggled with has been “I don’t deserve to be successful or happy.” Not feeling deserving or worthy is particularly crippling in creating the lives that we want. So, I have had to continually remind myself that I do deserve to be successful and that I do deserve to be happy.
So here is an exercise that you can do to start moving from limiting beliefs to empowering ones.
1. Write down 5 limiting beliefs you have about your ability to find a great career.
2. For each negative belief, answer these questions (from Byron Katie’s book, The Work):
1. Is it true?
2. Can you absolutely know that it’s true?
3. How do you react when you think that thought?
4. Who would you be without the thought?
5. Turn it around (create an opposite statement).
6. Is this Turnaround as true as or truer than the original thought or belief?
I want to emphasize that dealing with these limiting beliefs is critical, so I encourage you to use this exercise or any other one that you find on the Internet that works for you.
N. B. I invite you to visit the Contact page on my website and let me know your thoughts after you've done the exercise.
Ted Behr, CPCC, The Uncommon Success Coach, is a Career and Life Coach who specializes in working with members of the Boomer Generation who are considering a midlife career change. Through his writing and coaching, Coach Ted helps people to discover the career that will give them the enjoyment, fulfillment and meaning that they desire. For a free 6-part email mini-course on "How to Discover Your Ideal Career," a blog and other resources, visit his website at http://careerchangeforboomers.com.