Life Coaching Tip: This is one of my favorite stories—and if you’ve been a life coaching client mine, it’s one you’ve likely heard me tell. But it bears repeating, because it’s a powerful reminder to challenge the beliefs that might be keeping you blind to opportunities and getting in the way of your dreams!
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On summer mornings, my husband, Jerry and I enjoy strolling along the lake shore looking for beach glass that has been smoothed and conditioned from tumbling in the rocks and waves. It is always fun filling Jerry’s pockets with the “loot” we find on our lazy, weekend treasure hunts.
On one particularly lucrative excursion, we passed another couple who were also searching for glass nuggets. I joked with them, saying, “Well I hope you left some beautiful pieces for the rest of us!”
The woman grinned and shook the bag she was carrying. “Unfortunately,” she complained, “All we could find was the usual green. This beach only seems to have green glass.”
Wait, what?
“Oh, no,” I corrected her. “This beach is full of clear glass. I wish we could find green!”
Jerry then reached into his pocket and pulled out our bounty of clear glass, sprinkled with a few tiny pieces of yellow and blue.
The woman opened her bag next, and we were surprised to see her collection of ALL green glass.
The four of us looked at each other dumbfounded. Could we really have all been that “color blind”?
What happened next really amazed us.
Almost immediately after we parted from this couple, Jerry and I each found two large pieces of green beach glass! Of course, the green glass pieces had been there all along, but we literally didn’t see them because we either didn’t believe they existed or thought perhaps they were too rare to find.
This story is a favorite of mine because it simply shows how our human brain works. This is called “Confirmation Bias”, and it’s why it’s critical to challenge the stories that get in the way of what we want for our lives.
Just like with the beach glass, if we tell ourselves that something is impossible or improbable, even when an opportunity is right in front of us, WE WON’T EVEN SEE IT!
We all have limiting beliefs that are so deep-rooted in our subconscious minds that we accept them as truths, and so flushing them out can be difficult.
Consider how these common limiting beliefs might hold a person back and prevent them from seeing all the opportunities that life has to offer:
- I’m not ___________ (smart, educated, wealthy) enough to start a new business.
- At my age, all the desirable men are already taken.
- No one can make seven-figures in my profession.
What limiting beliefs are you holding onto that might be getting in the way of your dreams?
Are you ready to challenge and release them?
Don’t go through life with a pocket full of clear beach glass when the shore is full of colorful, glistening glass ready for the picking!
If your beliefs are holding you back from what you want for your life, sister, it is time to tell a new story!
