Some Advice On What’s Holding You Back
One of the most important lessons I have learned throughout my career (both as a former higher-ed exec and now Life & Career Coach) is the importance and the power of believing in yourself and your ability to do hard things – and then really committing yourself to it.
When I reflect on the years I spent in higher education, the belief and commitment I had to myself, to my functional teams, to my employees, to our students, and to the work we were doing, along with their belief and commitment to themselves and the overall work we were doing, was what gave us the ability to propel through the seemingly endless budget cuts, the seemingly endless regulatory changes, and the seemingly insurmountable challenges we faced on a daily basis.
And now, as I reflect on working with my clients in my private practice, I know, without a doubt, that they are capable of achieving whatever results they want in their life.
Every single one of them.
Every single result.
Without a doubt.
How can I believe this so deeply?
Because our thoughts determine our feelings, which drives us to act, which ultimately produces the results we have in our life. (This is scientifically proven stuff, by the way.)
This might sound easy.
It’s not.
Instead, what happens is, we revert to past belief systems (that in most cases don’t serve us), and find evidence daily of why the impossible is not possible in our lives.
It usually starts with a thought something like, “I shouldn’t really start that new business I’ve been thinking about, it’s way too risky…”, which is then usually followed-up with a conversation we have with a friend or co-worker about our idea of starting a new business in which they proceed to tell us we’re nuts to which we then agree (at least partly) to which we then register as evidence as to why this is a ridiculous idea in the first place, to which then we find ourselves swimming in cognitive dissonance (psychological stress) about the whole situation.
It’s not pretty.
Yet it’s ever-present in our lives.
Even with small things.
Think about it.
It feels totally uncomfortable.
And keeps us feeling stuck.
But, I can tell you, this is also great news.
Because we have the power to change it.
In fact, we all have a choice in how we resolve the cognitive dissonance we experience. With everything in our lives. (Not just whether or not we should start that business or change jobs or move industries.)
And by resolving it in a healthy way and learning how to adopt our new belief system in a way that actually sticks with us, we will undergo some of the most profound personal growth we will ever experience.
(I can say without a doubt that this is why all of my clients experience such transformation through coaching. Because learning how to resolve cognitive dissonance is a core foundation of our work together.)
And the result is, before they know it, they’re on their way to starting that new business. Or changing careers. Or moving industries.
And along the way, they become the person they first envisioned.
It’s a beautiful thing.
I see my clients do it every day.
If you can relate to experiencing any of the above or having cognitive dissonance in a way that is holding you back from going after what you really want, click below to schedule a free consultation. We’ll talk about what’s holding you back, what you really want, and how my program will help you get there:
