Limits

Act the way you want to feel.  That is one of my biggest personal mantras right now because I feel like it is perfect for navigating this space of personal development along with attempting to build something that I hope reaches at least some people who may find it meaningful.

 

With that, today the way I want to feel is unlimited.  I want to feel like the world is my oyster, I can take on anything type of way!  And so by golly, I am going to act that way by spewing about how you shouldn’t let anyone else define your limits.  Let me restate that another way – you are in charge of the limits placed on yourself, your life, your career, etc…

 

Don’t get me wrong, the people around us are important – you can still respect the opinion and insight of others around you while fostering a sense of growth and development.  So what are you doing/saying to yourself that is limiting?  I have a strong tendency to place limiting beliefs on myself so I will get personal and share some of what I catch myself thinking and how I personally come back from it.  It may not work for you, but hey don’t ‘yuck’ someone else’s ‘yum’ (or does that saying only make sense in the context of putting peanut butter on carrots?).  Now let’s dive into some of my personal issues:

1. I’m not good at/don’t know enough people to network effectively
   • Yet – the way to get better at something is not to tell yourself you aren’t good at it and leave it at that.  Figure out how to improve and take steps to do so!  Learning is fun and if there is something you’re not good at – like networking – it’s just an opportunity to learn.
2. Other people are already doing what I’m trying to do – and they do it better than I probably will
   • Well that’s because they have been doing it longer and know better.  Another one of my favorite sayings right now is “know better, do better“.  Once I know better, I will also do better and right now it seems silly to compare myself to others who are in a different stage of their career as I am.
3. If this doesn’t work out, I’ll have to scrap the whole thing and do something else
   • I can thank Eric for what I tell myself to come back from this one.  If it is something I am passionate enough about to stick with in the long term, there is low probability of it being a total failure.  As long as I maintain the grit and determination to stick with it, something will some from it in the end.
4. Marketing myself and my services is probably annoying to those around me and they will probably get sick of it and as a result, get sick of me
   • Yeah, it might get annoying to some – those people can ‘unfollow’ me or choose not to expose themselves to it.  If someone starts to get sick of what I am sharing and don’t take the action to do something about it, that’s on them, not me.  And the people who are truly close to me and meaningful in my life won’t fall into that boat.

 

And that, in a nutshell are the thoughts that go through my head (semi)regularly.  If you haven’t figured this out about me yet, I am a hardcore thinker.  My brain is constantly going – sometimes for the worse.  Sometime the thoughts linger around my limits and insecurities.  And in the spirit of ‘act the way I want to feel’, one of my main priorities right now is to counteract those thoughts with ones that uplift me and evoke confidence.

 

If, like me, you have a history of feeling insecure (with yourself, your body, your career, anything!), stop to assess if those insecurities are doing you justice or if they are trapping you in your mind, limiting your ability to soar.*

 

*Cue all the cliché quotes about soaring, flying, falling and getting back up, etc…

Now go about the rest of your day acting like you can do anything (within reason, obviously) and own it!