Beliefs are a funny thing.
Beliefs are a state of mind in which you regard a thing to be true. It makes sense that if you regard a thing to be true, you’re more likely to take action consistent with that belief.
Some beliefs support us to open and grow, while others keep us stuck in mediocrity. At times, you may wonder why you’re not achieving the results you seek even though you’re taking action. This can be a frustrating place to be. It often stems from an unconscious or unexplored belief.
Even the most seasoned and successful entrepreneurs can have a belief they don’t realize is holding them back or no longer serves them. They just know something is off.
The key is to become aware of what your beliefs are serving. Many beliefs are learned and are usually designed to protect us, keep us right, look good, or avoid pain. Sometimes it’s a matter of bringing awareness to it and shifting it.
Speaking of shifting, one of my clients had a long and successful career working for a large company as an employee. She successfully climbed the corporate ladder and got the itch to start her own business.
As an employee, she was conditioned to churn out projects in a certain way. The process she followed included having her projects reviewed by several levels, changed multiple times, and re-worked before launching it. Over time, she developed a belief that this is how you launch projects.
When the time came for her to launch her new eBook for her own business, she got stopped before she even started. She became overwhelmed with the project saying, “it’s going to take a long time”.
Underneath that notion, was her employee belief that her eBook needed to be “perfect” before launching it. She tried to apply a belief that worked in a corporate structure in her entrepreneurial pursuit.
As an entrepreneur, if you wait until your product is “perfect”, you may never launch at all. While you want to make sure your product is a good one, too many revisions will slow you down and stop you before you get started.
I asked her, “What is possible if you launched your eBook, then improved it after you received some feedback from the people who downloaded it?”
There was silence, and then a break through.
With this newfound awareness, she decided to keep the format of her first eBook simple. Instead of waiting to launch a “perfect” edition, she decided to get feedback from early adopters and invite their feedback through her launch process, helping her to create an improved offering in future editions.
While her employee-minded belief worked to navigate the corporate environment, she now has access to a new entrepreneurial belief to empower her to accelerate her results. Instead of waiting to create perfection, she’s creating an eBook that invites feedback and engages her prospects.
While she’s building a following, she’s simultaneously building a better product and filling her prospect pipeline.
Beliefs are a funny thing, aren’t they?
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