Hidden beliefs that hold you back

In our latest entrepreneur workshop for the SAB Foundation Tholoana programme, we touched on the powerful subject of hidden emotional blockages. The awareness of our subconscious beliefs that can hold us back from success.

We all have moments when we doubt our abilities, compare ourselves to others, or fear success. Underneath these feelings often lies a set of these hidden beliefs that hold us back. We all have moments when we waver in our self-confidence, compare ourselves to others, or fear success.

These are the subconscious thoughts and assumptions that shape our reality. They are often formed in childhood, based on our experiences and the messages from others. They can be positive or negative, but it’s the negative ones that are usually more powerful and persistent. They can limit our potential, sabotage our success, and undermine our happiness.

But the good news is that we can transform these negative feelings into empowering beliefs that support our growth and happiness. Here are three tips on how to do that:

Identify our hidden beliefs

• The first step is to become aware of our hidden beliefs. We can do this by paying attention to our thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. We can train ourselves to notice when we are feeling insecure, anxious, or frustrated and ask the question what are we afraid of? What are we avoiding? These are clues to unconscious beliefs. For example, we might discover that we have a hidden belief that if we are successful, the loving relationship with our partner, father or community might change leaving us rejected or unloved. Or if we have been raised with a belief that money is the root of all evil, we can understand how this conflicts with our aim to build a profitable business.
• Challenge our hidden beliefs

• The second step is to gently challenge these beliefs. We can do this by questioning if they are true and relevant to our lives. For example, if we have a hidden belief that ‘good women’ should be wives, not business leaders, we can ask ourself: Is this really true? What successful women leaders do I admire? Perhaps Graca Michel, Oprah…? What can I learn from them? By doing this, we weaken the hold of our limiting beliefs and open our minds to new possibilities.

Replace these hidden beliefs

• The third step and the most difficult, is to replace these hidden beliefs with new and empowering ones. We can do this by attending interactive support such as Fetola’s Emotions of money webinar (sign up here) and changing our inner self-talk to positive affirmations, statements, and mantras that reflect our true value and self-worth. For example, if we had a hidden belief that we are not capable of building a big business, we can replace it with: I am a strong leader and I attract the right support team to build a successful business By repeating empowering beliefs like this, we can reprogram our subconscious mind and boost our confidence, motivation, and resilience.

Lastly, as courageous and unique individuals when we root out our limiting subconscious blockages and replace them with empowering beliefs, we gain the self-confidence we need to succeed.

Until next time, keep shining your light!

#FearlessLeadership #Tholoana #leadershiptips

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About Catherine Wijnberg

Catherine Wijnberg is a powerful advocate for change, for entrepreneurs, for Africa and the planet.

She is the Director and Founder of Fetola, a leading provider of world-class entrepreneurial support programmes for African entrepreneurs, building businesses that last through scalable solutions that deliver social, environmental and economic impact.