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By PASCAL FINETTE

The Heretic is a free dispatch delivering insights into what it takes to lead into & in the unknown. For entrepreneurs, corporate irritants and change makers. Raw, unfiltered and opinionated.

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Jun 30th, 2016 Share: Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on LinkedIn

Limit Your Limiting Self-Believes

Today I sat down with an exceptional leadership coach to talk about how people show up when they present on stage.

You might know the moment: You are about to present in front of a group of people (be it a pitch, a startup contest or a presentation) and that little voice in your head starts feeding you lines such as:

“I am not smart enough.”

“You pale in comparison to the other speakers.”

“Your accent is funny and you will sound stupid.”

Most of us (if not all) have some form of this voice in our heads. And the voice is typically damn convincing — making us believe that what it says is factual truth, not just a believe.

Reality is — those lines are just believes we hold on to. Problem is — they limit us.

Here’s what you should do instead: Listen carefully to your limiting believes, ask yourself if they are objectively true (they usually aren’t) and turn them on their head.

“I am not smart enough.” turns into “My unusual and non-academic background allows me to see things differently and provide a new perspective.”

“You pale in comparison to the other speakers.” similarly should be “My presentation style is fresh and different, adding to the overall conversation.”

“Your accent is funny and you will sound stupid.” becomes “Because I am not a native English speaker I sound more interesting and make myself clearer as I use simpler language.”

Come to think about it, it is remarkable how much we hold on to limiting believes. Not just when we present but in all different parts of our lives.

It is time to turn our limiting believes into empowering believes and not let them hold us back anymore.

P.S. It took us a little while to find the perfect quality t-shirt — but they are finally here: Get your very own #BuildWhatMatters T-Shirt in our brand new Heretic store!


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