Work Life Balance Podcast: Business | Productivity | Results

5 Limiting Beliefs That May Be Holding You Back


Listen Later

It’s all about perspective. Whether you’re facing a business challenge or a physical one, having the right mindset can determine how successful you are. In fact, studies by Stanford University psychologist Carol S. Dweck have shown that the power of mindset lies in whether you have a fixed or growth mindset.
A fixed mindset is the belief that you are who you are, and nothing can change that. This encompasses a level of intelligence, talents, and creative abilities. When you have a fixed mindset, it may lead to feelings of failure if you don’t think you are smart enough or capable enough to handle the obstacles that you will inevitably face as a business owner.
A growth mindset, on the other hand, is the perspective that you can continue to learn and adapt to different situations that may arise. Even if you fail, you tend to learn from those failures and turn them into future successes. People with growth mindsets are curious and actively seek to keep learning, a characteristic that is necessary for success.
While a growth mindset is more conducive to a successful business, it’s not always easy to change your mindset. The first step in changing how you view yourself and the world around you is identifying what limiting beliefs you may have that are holding you back.
What is a limiting belief?
A limiting belief is a false belief that something is impossible based on one’s own limitations and abilities. Limiting beliefs often keep you from pursuing or setting bigger goals for your business and is a mindset that can hold you back from reaching your potential.
Here are five examples of limiting beliefs that you can identify and overcome.
1. “I can’t compete with [INSERT a COMPETITOR for you].”
Maybe your product or service isn’t the first of its kind. There may be hundreds or thousands of competitors out there. But guess what—none of those are founded by YOU. When you focus on how to do something better than your competitors in the same way they’re doing them, you lose out on the potential to be uniquely you and attract clients who connect with your voice and brand.
There’s nothing wrong with a little healthy competition. But take a step back and ask yourself, are you motivated by your competitors, or do you feel defeated by them before you’ve even started? If it’s the latter, here are some strategies for fostering healthy competition and using it as fuel:
• Delegate competitor research to someone on your team. Let a team member analyze the competition and deliver insights that are useful to your business. That way, you can benefit from the end results without feeling discouraged and without comparing yourself to others.
• Ignore the competition. Maybe not the most common business advice, but by ignoring what others are doing, you’re creating a space for yourself to truly focus on how you want to grow your business, your way.
• Compete with yourself instead. The healthiest competition is one with yourself. Set incremental goals for your business, and once you reach them, celebrate, and then set higher goals!
2. “I’m not an expert in that field.”
Imposter syndrome is something that everybody faces at some point in their lives, usually more than once. Who are you to speak about your industry when you don’t know everything there is to know about it? And yet, you may know more than you think in any given scenario!
The trick is to adapt to a growth mindset and never stop learning. If you learn something new that contradicts what you’ve said in the past, be transparent and share what you’ve learned. It doesn’t make you any less respectable—in fact, many people have increased respect for people willing to admit they were wrong.
3. “I should be able to figure this out by myself.”
Delegating tasks can be scary because that means relinquishing some control of your business. As you grow, however, it’s necessary to learn how to delegate to others, and your business will be better off for it.
Take stoc
...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Work Life Balance Podcast: Business | Productivity | ResultsBy Anne Bachrach

  • 3
  • 3
  • 3
  • 3
  • 3

3

2 ratings