Who’s holding you back?

Sometimes the person that is holding us back most is staring back at us in the mirror.

What do you believe about yourself that is holding you back?

At some point, we all have limiting beliefs, but there are some thoughts that we have as women that can keep us tethered and sometimes stuck in our leadership aspirations.

Have you ever thought the following before you even went for it?

❌ I won’t be considered because I’m female.

❌I’m the only woman of color, and I don’t want to appear to be angry if I speak my thoughts.

❌I haven’t seen any other women take that role, so I won’t try

❌I don’t have all of the skills this role calls for, so I’ll simply look for something else

One way to square off with your limiting beliefs before you sabotage your attempts at moving higher is to first recognize them for what they are. The moment you have them, stop yourself, write them down and ask yourself where does the thought come from. Then ask yourself, what do you need to say to yourself to push past the thought?

Your brain requires new, positive information to offset the negatives beliefs in your neural pathways, and it needs it often.

In the context of the last bullet above, you might say to yourself: What do I need to do to gain the skills in order to keep pursuing the role? Or if you have 60% of the skills required for the role, say to yourself, that this could be a learning opportunity.

The trustiest question I like to raise to my women leaders is “What would Jim say or do in this situation?”

Check out this recent article from Forbes on women leaders and limiting beliefs.

It’d be great to hear from you what self-sabotaging thoughts you’ve had that have surprised you. How did you overcome them? Are you still struggling with it? Reach out so that I can support you in getting past these thoughts and on to that senior executive leadership role you know deep down you deserve.

Message me so we can get started, or click the link in my bio to get on my schedule