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How to Shatter These 3 Self-Limiting Beliefs That Are Holding You Back
Your belief system will impact the results you accomplish
“The only thing that’s keeping you from getting what you want is the story you keep telling yourself.” — Tony Robbins
For as long as I can remember, I’ve always felt uncomfortable about sharing what I know, and I have often resisted contributing to a group discussion. While I can’t completely recall specific instances where I was ridiculed for answering questions incorrectly or for making contributions in a class discussion in my primary and secondary school days, I recall it was common practice for kids to ridicule other kids. I was involved in this and I was also a victim. We all participated in it. It was a fun thing to do, we thought at the time. A few times, we got in trouble for this, and other times, we escaped without punishment.
As a grew older and got more mature, I abstained from this childish behavior of ridiculing others in my later years in secondary school. However, I never really got over my own fear of sharing my knowledge or participating in class discussions. This continued throughout my university days and most of my work life in Corporate Nigeria and Corporate Canada. And I recall some of the reasons why:
- I felt I did not know enough to share
- I thought I was not smart
- I was fearful of being ridiculed
- I thought everyone already knew what I was about to share so I did not feel compelled to share with them what they already know
- I was concerned they will ridicule my accent (in Canada)
- I was worried I did not have a strong command of the English language to communicate effectively
- I feared I will be misunderstood
- I feared I will offend someone
- I feared I will be disliked
I struggled academically in my primary and secondary school days so I believed I was not smart. While my academic performance went from mediocre to average and to above average as I progressed through undergrad and graduate school my belief system did not change as much. I was still stuck in believing I was not smart.
