Reply To: Exercise 4: Write Your Beliefs
Write out your beliefs
1. Honesty is the best policy
2. The vast majority of people want to do good
3. Having a job or task you are interested in gives you more motivation
4. People need to work on something that makes a difference, is important
5. It takes hard work and self-promotion to get recognized (this is a belief that changed for me in the last year. Hard work alone is not enough, Marshall Goldsmith)
6. School is only the beginning of your learning journey
7. The biggest limiting factor to what I want to accomplish is often my mindset and fear that I can’t do it
8. The earth is round, more or less
9. A manager is focused on doing things right, a leader is focused on doing the right things
10. We all have some innate level of leadership in us
11. Societies level of consumption is destroying the climate that supports life
12. There are a lot of poor bosses out there
13. People often tell themselves stories to make themselves feel good
14. You can’t really say you hold a value dear until you test it
15. I am fortunate to live in Canada
16. Giving people a chance
17. We are ruled mostly by fate but still have choice if we notice opportunities that come by and act on them
18. We are destined to repeat life’s lessons until we learn from them
19. Taking ownership of your own Personal development
20. I don’t have what it takes to be an entrepreneur. Working on this one
21. Focus on what you can control or influence, don’t spend much time on what you can’t
22. This too will pass
23. Every girl likes a well dressed man
24. We are integral to the environment we live in
25. I believe I am always exactly where I’m supposed to be even though I may not understand why at the time.
26. I am an ethical person who believes in ‘it’s the right thing to do’
27. I am an innovator with a good eye for improvement opportunities
28. I like to push myself to see how far I can go, beyond my official roles and experience
29. I am a great synthesizer of disparate ideas into a whole, another superpower
30. I believe in showing up with presence
31. I believe motivating and inspiring people is one of my strongest superpowers
32. I have a strong sense of responsibility that drives me to solve problems outside my roles
33. I believe taking action on an imperfect solution is better than perfecting it before starting
REFLECTION
Did you notice any trends?
A number of leadership themes, most of the beliefs I listed are positive. That is a transition from the past for me. The few that are negative, I am aware of and working on. I can tell the timeline and situations for when I adopted certain beliefs in the past.
Did you notice unexpected beliefs?
I noticed a few beliefs that are relatively new for me, an artifact of changes I/m trying to make in myself.
Calling out the few negative belief’s is the firt time I’ve put them in writing as a more formal acknowledgement.
Did you notice the difference between beliefs and strategies?
I understand the difference but don’t think I included any strategies.
How do beliefs work?‘
When you adopt a belief, you accept it as true. They fuel your motivations and drive your attitudes and behavior. Your conscious decisions are driven more by your beliefs than most think. You’d like to think it’s all a conscious decision and the result of in-depth rationalization on your part.
How do beliefs affect your life?
We use beliefs to help us understand the world around us. A person’s beliefs will guide them in their decision making and response to situations. If make a decision that is incongruent with a belief, I believe you will be in turmoil until it is resolved. I’ve felt this at times, treating people poorly, making a work decision that wasn’t right with my beliefs.
Where and how might you apply your experience in the remainder of your life?
By taking stock of my beliefs I can refine my true path forward and my behaviours. I feel I’ve already been doing some of that but this exercise has encouraged me to pay more attention.