How To Reframe Limiting Beliefs About Your Career
This post is the second installment in the Legally Bold series on limiting beliefs and how they rob us of achieving fulfillment in essential areas of our lives. You can find the first installment in the series, A Primer on Limiting Beliefs, here.
When I worked for a firm, one of the partners used to tell me about the bedtime stories he read to his grandchildren. What stayed with me about those conversations is that he would always make sure to tell me that he read every page of those books to them. He read the title page with the author’s name. And sometimes, he would even read the copyright page with the publisher’s info and copyright notice.
He did this because he wanted his grandchildren to know that an everyday person, just like them wrote and published a book. And if that person could do it, so could they.
I didn’t realize how profound a simple practice like that can be until I had those talks. By reading every single page, that partner transformed his grandchildren’s beliefs about their capabilities and expanded their perception of what was possible for them in the future.
Essentially, he cut down their limiting beliefs about the future of their careers before they even had a chance to take root.
Although we don’t have limiting belief busting grandpas as adults, we do have the ability to reframe the limiting beliefs that hold us back in our careers. To that end, here are 4 common careers-related limiting beliefs and some action steps we can take to reframe those thoughts and bring us closer to our goals.
Limiting Belief #1: I’m Too Old To Chase A New Career Dream
I’m not sure when adulthood became synonymous with giving upon yourself, but it sure as heck seems like a lot of people approach adult life this way.
While it may feel good to say you are “taking care of your responsibilities” by sticking with a career or job you hate, really you’ve just decided that figuring out a way to be self-sufficient and responsible through a career you actually enjoy it too hard or scary even to attempt. That’s no way to approach your work, especially when it’s such a significant part of life.
The key is to recognize that we have a right to grow and change in adulthood and to trust that we will make the right decision to support ourselves through those changes.
New Empowering, Reframed Belief: I am whole at any age and can create what I desire now.
Action Steps: Notice when you tell yourself that you are too old to follow your dream and bravely take action toward your vision and goals every single day anyway. Be sure to reward yourself for taking action.
Limiting Belief # 2: I Won’t Make Enough Money If I Change Careers
Popular culture makes it seem like you have to have a “real job,” i.e., something in the corporate, medical, engineering, or legal arena to make any “real money.” However, modern life is telling us a different story. Through technology, people support themselves and their families in ways that most workers don’t know is possible. The key here is creativity. If you are willing to be creative in your approach to finding career satisfaction while earning a living, there is no limit to the dreams you can pursue.
New Empowering, Reframed Belief: I am resourceful, experienced, and educated. I will always trust myself to make sure that I have enough.
Action steps: If you lost your job today and needed to earn money quickly, what would you do? Begin journaling about alternative ways to earn an income and how you might use that money to help you move on to the next stage of your career.
Limiting Belief #3 Everyone Else Has It Figured Out Except Me
When you’re in a career rut, it’s going to take you some to decide your next career move in a way that feels empowering and responsible. That’s ok and makes sense. It’s also quite normal.
But when you see the highlight reel of other people’s lives on social media, it can seem like you are the only person who doesn’t have it all figured out. Comparing your lived experience to the edited snapshots of someone else’s life is a recipe for a downward spiral.
You don’t know what other people are really going through from curated photos. And with data showing that 85% of people worldwide are dissatisfied with their current positions, it’s more likely that most people don’t have things figured out either.
New Empowering, Reframed Belief: The more that I focus on my own experience, the more connected with, and sure I will become about the correct path for me.
Action Steps: Learn to let go of comparison by placing limits on your social media use. Instead of turning to Instagram, use that time to turn your attention inward through meditation.
Limiting Belief # 4: I Haven’t Found My Passion, So I’m Always Going To Be Stuck
People believe that once they find their “passion,” they will have all the answers and happily move on to the next step of their career. But there is a fundamental flaw in that belief system. You can’t “find your passion” by thinking, reading books, or taking personality tests.
Passion follows action, not thought. You must try-on some of the careers or experiences you think you might like to see if passion develops. Not the other way around. And the only what to feel unstuck is to act first.
New Empowering Belief: My passion will follow my actions. So I will create new experiences, and those experiences will empower me to move forward in my career.
Action Steps: Take a local community class or join a local community group to try something that seems like fun to you. Then journal about the aspects of those activities that really energized you.
The key to reframing limiting beliefs about your career is to be aware of your thoughts consciously. If your thoughts do not empower you, change them because your beliefs have the power to stop you from achieving the results you want.
Now it’s your turn to contemplate any limiting beliefs you might have about your career. What thoughts have stopped you from taking action toward your career goal? How will you change those thoughts to empower you to move forward? Let me know in the comments below.