3 Ways Your Mindset is Holding You Back

Here are 3 ways your Mindset is holding you back from the career growth that you want. 

1. It causes you to overthink your decisions (and keeps you from taking action)

2. It creates false stories about yourself (and keeps you from dreaming)

3. It makes you feel like it’s out of your control (so you point the finger at others)

Our minds are powerful.  Research has found that the average person has 12,000 to 60,000 thoughts per day. Of those thousands of thoughts, 80% were negative, and 95% were exactly the same repetitive thoughts as the day before.

Our mind also tends to  focus on the negative and ‘play the same songs’ over and over again.

Here’s the thing, research has found that 85% of the “worries” we have never happen and that the 15% of “worries” that do, people found that they were able to handle. 

So everything that you THINK is keeping you from taking action in your career isn’t actually stopping you. YOU ARE STOPPING YOU.

Your mindset can: 

1. Cause you to overthink your decisions (and keeps you from taking action)

2. Think of this from a flight/fight mode, which actually also includes freeze.  So we freeze when we overthink. So instead of running away or fighting we stay stagnant in our careers.  

3. It creates false stories about yourself (and keeps you from dreaming)

4. After hearing the same negative thoughts, we tend to believe them. So the story that you’re not smart enough or hard working enough for a promotion becomes believable. So you just stop dreaming that it is possible for you. And decide that it’s okay to let go of your big career dreams. 

5. It makes you feel like it’s out of your control (so you point the finger at others)

6. In your career you may feel powerless if you’ve never stepped out of comfort zone.  In school we are taught that merit and hard work will be rewarded. In our careers, while hard work is appreciated, it’s not often reward.  So, when you don’t get “reward” in your career you feel slighted. Or that no one is giving you an opportunity. When in reality, we need to advocate for ourselves.  You need to highlight your accomplishments and make it know what your career aspirations are. 

Which one of these do you find yourself doing? 

First, I’ll start with it’s okay if you notice yourself doing this. Our brains are basically wired to seek out potential dangers and in our modern lives we don’t have the danger of a mountain lion coming and attacking us.

So our brain continues to seek out danger in other ways, that may not be as useful to us. 

So what can you do about it? 

Start by identifying what you’re doing. Notice it. And do your best from judging “it” and yourself.   Then reflect on it. Journal if you can for about 5-10 minutes on what is going on.  Follow the 5Ws:

1. What is causing you to feel or think this?

2. Who is this really about? Myself or others

3. When does this come up for me?

4. Where am I most like to feel or think this?

5. And why is it coming up now?

Reflection is really the key to overcoming our mindset blocks. 

What career mindset blocks are you currently facing? 

Are you ready for 1:1 Coaching? Schedule a 15min call with me to learn more about how I can help you overcome your mindset blocks.