Spotting My Limiting Beliefs and Learning to Succeed
The things I need to know that I did NOT learn in kindergarten
It feels like I’ve had some breakthroughs in my limiting beliefs.
It seems I’d created restrictions on handling things I wasn’t even aware of.
My perspective on what I write about and how I write about it is maturing, and that feels freeing!
Beyond writing, my ideas about running a business have shifted, most notably that I recognize it as a business.
Recent Writing Topics and their Lessons
At the start of last week, my thoughts were focused on what I felt were toxic influences on the internet. Specifically, some people are all too willing to manipulate others to get what they want. As the week progressed and my thoughts evolved, I started to see the bigger concern: that people focus more on a big payday and less on helping people.
Lesson Learned? — Helping people is why I started this path; I see that even more vividly now.
Income will be a by-product of that help.
Midweek, I was writing about curiosity and further seeing how much it drives my writing style and topics. I can write about just about anything, depending on my current mental state. I love exploring new ideas.
Our lives are a symphony of different influences like this, and it’s beautiful.
Lesson Learned? — The “Niche” is a great starting crutch to lean on as you’re trying to find your voice, but once you get your head straight, “you” become the niche.
As the week wound down, my thoughts were around ‘chasing wealth’ and how humans handle that. Many life lessons come with running a business, and doing things to increase your wealth can be a slippery slope.
Lesson Learned? — If you spend time creating value, you’ll be a better person for it, and if it’s of real value, an income will also start to arrive.
Pesky Limiting Beliefs
As I mentioned at the start, there was a shift this last week, and only when I consider myself compared to where I was at the start of March do I see how much I’ve already changed.
Some of that change is just the voice of experience. I write consistently now. I have little problem coming up with things to write about, but I don’t need to come up with the FULL answer every time. Besides, too much information can be overwhelming anyway.
I used to think I needed a handful of topics that were the most important. I recognize that going too granular leads me to become repetitive.
I used to think headlines had to be borderline clickbait; I struggled with this ‘common wisdom’ every time I tried it. You can be compelling without hyperbole. I’m still finding that short voice.
I used to think that I couldn’t say something “quotable” or that I was inclined to write long statements that didn’t translate to social media. I see that simple is better now, and that’s where the art of writing starts to surface.
I used to think I had no business telling people what to do or how to do it, but I finally see that I’ve spent most of my corporate career as a coach and a teacher. I intuitively see ways that I can help people and do so meaningfully.
There is so much that I can’t quite distill into words at this point. Much of my transition is just comfort in my skin, but it takes some time to figure that out.
Gratitude
I’m grateful today for all that has shifted in the past week and for those influences that have helped me get there. A week ago, I was regretful of the mistakes I’d made, but now I’ve found value in those choices.
I’m grateful for exposure to new aspects of writing and to new communities. After spending months looking for and to experts, I recognize that while their path is “a way,” it isn’t necessarily “the way” for me.
What’s Coming Up
I created my 3rd newsletter last week, but I realize its content is better as a subset of the 2nd newsletter. Right now, you can read what I’m saying in 4 places:
Mindfullish - Medium.com — I post 3 to 5 times weekly, typically diving deeper into what I discuss in this newsletter.
Mindfullish - Substack.com — I post every Monday, exploring the lessons I’ve learned in the past week.
Threeish - Substack.com—This is an atomic newsletter with short content; it’s likely related to the topics covered in the Mindfullish newsletter.
Channeling Chaos - Substack.com — This is my business name and the name of the community I’m building for people dealing with problems in life and work management. It will become the primary second newsletter, but it will default to the atomic style, then it’ll have tools as sub-sections.
Those will shift around this week. I will also spin up my business's Coaching, Consulting, & Freelancing services:
Coaching & Consulting
Helping fledgling entrepreneurs who are trying to get their businesses started and growing.
Helping adults manage their ADHD or ADHD-like symptoms while managing life.
Helping writers find their voice faster and to discover what they want to accomplish.
Freelancing - Copywriting & Ghostwriting
Writing content to help people who need marketing help or generally need things to be written well.
As always, I’m grateful that you took the time to read my story. I really want to bring something valuable or interesting to you. This topic can be boring for anyone who isn’t me.
Thank you for reading!