Coat: Eaves; Jeans: GRLFRND; Shoes: Raye; Sunglasses: ASOS
Limiting beliefs are something we’re all guilty of thinking. They’re usually thoughts that we’ve been traditionally accustomed to believing which stop us from living life to its fullest. I make an active effort to work on each of these things everyday, and constantly have to remind myself to snap out of it when I’m veering towards them.
1. It needs to be perfect
The perfectionist trap – one that I’m really guilty of falling into. I was listening to an interview with Kelly LaVeque a few days back, and she imparted a piece of wisdom that I think will stick with me forever. She said that the most successful people she knows are doers, not perfectionists. A lot of the times, we might be afraid to embark on a project or maybe get discouraged from doing something because it’s not perfect. Thing is, nothing is perfect from the get-go. Important thing is to just do whatever it is that’s making you nervous and trust that with time and practice, it’ll get there.
2. You have to earn your fun
For some reason, society has drilled it into our minds that we have to work ourselves to death in order to ‘deserve’ fun or time off. Guys, this is crazy. There’s a reason why anxiety and burnout are at an all-time high. It’s because we feel the need to be busy all the time. We as a society have a very unhealthy relationship with our work. If I’ve learned one thing in the past year, it’s that I don’t have to earn my fun. I’m fully entitled to enjoy my work AND my life. Nobody has to work themselves to the ground in order to justify feeling light and happy. That’s a feeling we should always have (or at least strive to have)!
3. Happiness is a result of of X Y and Z
You may believe that happiness is dependent on your career, or how much you make, or how many designer bag you own, but this is just the farthest thing from the truth. We can’t allow material things or accomplishments to be the source of our happiness. It’s too fickle. Instead, we need to focus on cultivating our happiness from within. This means enjoying the journey instead of always worrying about the destination, practicing tons of self-love, and stop being so hard on ourselves.
4. You’re too old to *insert action*
Ever feel like you’re falling behind because someone X number of years younger than you is doing such amazing things? I know I’ve been there. But every time I have this limiting belief, I have to remind myself that age is just a number. You can be an amazing student at age 40, or starting your own business at 20. Never let age be a factor to stop you from pursuing something you love.
5. You have to have your life plan all figured out
Here’s a funny story: up until my 4th year of university, I thought I wanted to own my own dessert catering business. In fact, I applied to culinary school and even got in. However, before going, I had the good sense of working in a kitchen for a few months. It was a disaster, to say the least. After realizing that I didn’t want to work in the food industry, I felt deflated and confused. After this, I switched career directions 2-3 times (albeit they were all in the creative field) before landing up in publishing. And even after that, my career took an unexpected turn towards content creation. The point is, although some people know their life’s calling from day one, not everyone does. And that’s okay! Our 20s are there for that reason exactly. So work hard, have fun, and enjoy the ride.
6. Money is the reason you can’t pursue your dreams
Over the past couple of years, I’ve been deeply intrigued by the concept of lack vs. abundance mindset. For those of you who may not be familiar with this, the theory is that the more abundant your mindset (feeling like you have more than enough of something), the more you’ll attract positive things. Over the last few years, I’ve met a lot of very successful people, listened to interviews and read books, and have noticed one commonality between them all: money was never an excuse. Some of the most successful people in the world started out with absolutely nothing, but chose to make something of themselves despite their lack of resources. So next time you think ‘oh I don’t have enough money to do that’, remember that money shouldn’t be the thing to hold you back. If you want to do something enough, you’ll find a way!
Have you ever had a limiting belief that’s held you back? What was it?
These are limited beliefs for sure. You can do anything if you put your mind to it!
https://sugarcoatedbears.blogspot.com/
I am constantly finding myself a victim of the first one – a total perfectionist and I sometimes find that I break down if things aren’t “perfect” for me but nothing is ever perfect, we just have to do our best and find happiness in that!
x
Shoka
http://www.thesilksneaker.com
Love these articles of yours! So true that you are allowed to have fun whenever and that it’s never too late! Xx
http://www.thefashionfolks.com
All such good points. I knew graduating from a second degree would put me close to 30, but I did it anyway. Then I ended up working in my field a few years only to realise, there was not enough of an industry to keep going. I never expected to be doing what I am now, so I guess we never are too old.
xx Jenelle
http://www.inspiringwit.com
Great points Siffat!!
I’m always on a time crunch, I feel like there just isn’t enough time to do everything and because I aim for perfection, things take longer than expected to finish. I work on this by organizing monthly, weekly and daily as well as priotiizing tasks. It’s a work in progress, but I’ll get there!! 😁 Have a great day!!
I can’t agree more to your post! Very well written!
Nistha
https://www.fashionistha.com/100th-post-and-my-blogs-first-anniversary/
This is an interesting topic. In many respects you are right. The main thing is not to create complexes.
These are golden!! Such great insight especially when everyone wants to be perfect on Instagram
XO, Jessi
https://jmalay.com/holy-grail-hair-care/
This is so on point dear, and I couldn’t agree more, especially on 5! As much as we want to plan our lives, circumstances around us change, and we better adapt. So yes, better enjoy the ride!
Jessica | notjessfashion.com
You are so right on all those counts! At the end of the day, we are the ones who keep coming up with reasons to hinder our own success. Once’s we shed free of those reasons, that’s when we truly have the ability to be happy and to live our best lives.
-Didier
http://www.didieryhc.com
The money part has been a topic I have been thinking a lot these days, in fact someone gave their unsolicited advice about it today to me! I totally second your opinion believing you already have in abundance brings even more positive things to you!
Wishing you an amazing week ahead!
xx
Ankita | Real Girl Talks
http://realgirltalks.com/
I have litterally found myself in what you said at no.2, as I used to believe so too and I have done huge work with myself to change this mindset and just leave the moment without feeling guilty of not working enough.This was a lovely read, Siffat.
xo Corina
http://unbouquetdamour.com/blogging-creativity/
Hey hon, loooong time, how you doin’? Well, I’m mos def guilty of the I’m Too Old to…
Having said that, I’ve managed to defeat that nagging voice on more than one occassion. For example, that was one of the reasons I didn’t move to Berlin but now I’ve lived here more on than off, for over 6 years.
In theory, you’re never too old to start afresh if you don’t like the direction of your life but sometimes age can be a hindrance for e.g. for certain roles (can’t tell you the amount of job ads in Berlin that start with ‘we are a YOUNG tech startup’, child birth. Ok, I’m getting too deep here.
Have a good week ahead hon. X