My beliefs were shaped by the people that surrounded me and the experiences I had in my early life. My beliefs are pictures and opinions of myself, my life and the world around me. They shape my expectations and interpretations of a situation – my reality – and, hence, my reactions and actions.
Some beliefs are very helpful and some proved less helpful for my later life. I wanted to change the ones that felt limiting, the ones that took a lot of energy from me.
It takes time and practice to change beliefs. And, without great friends, mentors and coaches, I wouldn’t have managed to change the following 12:
- Jokes and fun at work is unprofessional. I don’t know where this comes from. But maybe it’s a mixture of having grown up in Germany where in many places humour is considered unprofessional, and having a father, with no sense of humour at all. He was my role model of someone being always serious and hard working. Hence, during my first jobs and internships, I have tried to be as serious and quiet as possible. I had my first doubts, when I asked a classmate of mine to support a design agency I had been working for. He constantly made my boss laugh. They offered him to join the agency, gave him a new bike when his was stolen while working for them. My boss even stored his stuff when he moved to the Netherlands for his studies. I didn’t understand how he could be so successful while being so unprofessional! Now I know that he was so successful, BECAUSE he was so “unprofessional”. Today, I believe that humour and fun are great ingredients for a successful career.
- Networking and investment in relationships are a waste of time. Now I know that it’s not and I enjoy doing it.
- To be successful, focus on one thing and work hard (without fun). Though I still see some truth in this, I found out that as a generalist with lots of interests, it‘s hard for me to reduce them to only one. Pursuing my different interests gives me energy and combining diverse experiences gives me many opportunities. And, making hard work fun makes everything much easier.
- Life is depressing, it’s not worth to continue anymore. I wasn’t a happy child. Luckily, I didn’t kill myself back then. Life is wonderful and I have to remind myself whenever it doesn’t seem so.
- I am powerless. Now I know I have the power to change things and make a difference.
- My worth is defined by others. My worth is defined by myself.
- I am the dumbest person on earth. I am not.
- Creativity is useless. Today, creativity is rated one of the most important skills to succeed in the future world. I love to be creative and my son, too ❤️.
- Drawing is useless and unprofessional. My profession and business is about visual storytelling. Studies have proved that visualisation enhances understanding and memorising.
- My opinion doesn’t matter. It does and that’s what my employer and my clients pay me for.
- I can’t earn money by doing good and helping others. Yes, I can! By working for public institutions and by making essential information and services accessible to the public.
- I have to change my personality in order to succeed. I have to trust myself and be myself in order to succeed.
To be continued 💪!
How about you? Which limiting beliefs have you overcome?
