limiting beliefs

How to find your why and achieve your PR goals

How to find your why and achieve your PR goals

Last week we talked about the fact that despite what we’re commonly told, simply setting your goals or having a clear vision for what you want for 2024 isn’t enough to keep you on track

Remember that,? If not, will you check that post out here?

Which is why as you set your goals or create that vision board, it's important to consider the why behind every goal

Not sure how?

The 5 WHYS Technique is one of my favourite journaling prompts because it has helped me and my clients stay consistent and accountable with achieving our goals - even when motivation runs a little dry

So, whether you want to start or grow your business, get PR success, or travel the world - the 5 WHYS technique can help you identify the core reason behind your aspirations. What’s great is that it’s super simple. Just grab a pen and notebook and ask yourself why you want to achieve a particular goal. Ask yourself this question 5 times to get to the core why.

Here's an example of how that works in practice...

5 things holding women back in PR

5 things holding women back in PR

Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a HUGE Disney fan!

The film that started it all? The Little Mermaid, which I got for my 5th birthday.

One of the things that I love about Disney movies is that they typically have deep, inspirational messages that can be applied to everyday life. The Little Mermaid is no exception.

In case you’re unfamiliar with the story, here’s an example of that:

Ariel (The Little Mermaid) dreams of being human.

When she falls in love with Prince Eric, she goes to Ursula (the sea witch) for the opportunity to kill two birds with one stone:

  1. Become human forever

  2. See Eric again, get him to fall in love with her and seal it with a kiss

Ursula agrees to help Ariel, but the gag (catch) is that:

She wants Ariel’s voice as collateral

  1. Ariel will only have 3 days to find Eric and experience true love’s kiss

Without that kiss, not only will Ariel not get her happily ever after, she’ll be Ursula’s prisoner forever.

I know what you’re thinking, “How do mermaids, sea witches and having magic spells broken by true love’s kiss relate to my life, Nina?”

Well, the truth is that we all have Ursulas in our lives- even you

Your Ursula may not be a plus-sized purple octopus with a powerful singing voice like Ariel but, as a woman, there are plenty of things vying to sabotage your visibility dreams and steal your voice.

In fact, there are 5 voice stealers that personally stopped me showing up before I learned the tools needed to overcome them.

I recorded a video (below) about them because I don’t want the same things that stopped me from stepping out into the spotlight to also stop you.

3 tools for overcoming limiting beliefs holding you back from PR success

Last week I mentioned that one of the common mistakes that people make, when it comes to mindset work, is thinking that it's a one-time thing

This is because, in the same way that real gardens need maintenance to ensure that weeds don't get out of hand, so do our minds

I also promised that I would give you some of the tips and tricks that I like to use for renewing my mind on a regular basis and that you can too

So here they are:

4 common mistakes in overcoming limiting beliefs

4 common mistakes in overcoming limiting beliefs

Do you know how some people have a "green thumb"? Well my mum has a black one! Like, seriously, in my 34 years she's only succeeded at keeping one plant alive...and that was in the last 2-3! This is one of the biggest reasons that she concreted her garden just before the pandemic. She had more grass, weeds and stinging nettles than actual flowers. And she'd always lament about having to garden again whenever the grass, or anything else, grew back.

According to James Allen, the author of "As a Man Thinketh" (mentioned in my previous blog post), our minds work in a similar way. He states that:

"A man's mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild; but whether cultivated or neglected, it must, and will, bring forth. If no useful seeds are put into it, then an abundance of useless weed seeds will fall therein, and will continue to produce their kind".

In other words, like any garden, our minds will always either produce flowers (positive thoughts) or weeds (negative thoughts) but the weeds will grow out of hand if left to their own devices. With that in mind, here are 4 common mistakes that people make when it comes to preventing this, especially when it comes to PR:

How to overcome the limiting beliefs holding you back from PR success

How to overcome the limiting beliefs holding you back from PR success

Last week, I mentioned that one of my favourite quotes and illustrations on the importance of mindset is "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he" (Proverbs 23:7)

You can find the others here if you missed it

"As a man thinketh" (based on the King James translation of that scripture) is also the name of one of my favourite self-help books

So if you're looking for further reading on this topic, definitely look it up, sis!

It's second chapter begins:

"A man's mind may be likened to a garden... Just as a gardener cultivates his plot, keeping it free from weeds, and growing the flowers and fruits which he requires, so may a man tend the garden of his mind, weeding out all the wrong, useless, and impure thoughts, and cultivating toward perfection the flowers and fruits of right, useful, and pure thoughts. By pursuing this process, a man sooner or later discovers...with ever-increasing accuracy, how the thought forces and mind elements operate in the shaping of his character, circumstances and destiny".

In other words we go in the direction of our belief system(s) and this is why mindset is so important. However, limiting belief systems can be overcome.

Here's how you can do that:

Why you need to overcome the limiting beliefs holding you back from PR success

Why you need to overcome the limiting beliefs holding you back from PR success

Did you know that this year's Women's History Month theme is: "Women providing healing, promoting hope"?

Well, according to The National Women's History Alliance, it is!

In honour of that, I will be spending this month talking about healing as it relates to PR success

Because the truth is:

I can give you my whole winning formula to pitching the media so that you can get more visible, attract your ideal clients and get paid what you want, but- in the words of Lauryn Hill- "How you gone win if you ain't right within?" *In other words...

3 disempowering life and business Beliefs

3 disempowering life and business Beliefs

Last week, we talked about the fact that lack of faith decreases our capacity to succeed

Remember that, sis?

The most obvious way that lack of faith shows up is through unbelief or lack of faith in God

which, according to The Parable of the sower, usually happens because of “the cares of the world” (Matthew 13:22)

But another way that it shows up is through a lack of belief in ourselves

For example-

When the woman approached Elisha to appeal to him for (divine) help in her situation (2nd Kings 4:1-7), I don’t think that she expected to be the answer to her own question or the solution to her own problem

Why?

Because she came to him talking more about the problem than what she might have or be able to do to solve it

In fact, it was not until Elisha asked her what she had in her house, that she even took inventory of what she had at all (2nd Kings 4:1-2)

As soon as she did take stock of what she had (a jar of oil), this precipitated the action that she took to activate her miracle

i.e. borrowing vessels from her neighbours, filling them up and selling them to the point that she could pay off her debts and “live on the rest” with her sons (2nd Kings 4:3-7)

So often, as modern women, we do the same thing

Cue edge snatching moment…

Lessons from Mahlah and her sisters on How to overcome Limiting Beliefs caused by Gender Norms

Lessons from Mahlah and her sisters on How to overcome Limiting Beliefs caused by Gender Norms

Last week we discussed how legalistic religious beliefs within the church can stop women from walking in their purpose and fully showing up

Click here if you missed that, sis

This is important because it plays into culture

(which is the behaviours and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic or age group)

especially in terms of how girls are socialised which, in turn, has knock-on effects on our ability to show up, be visible and therefore make impact as women

For, as one of my favourite authors, Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche said:

“We teach girls to shrink themselves, to make themselves smaller, we say to girls, ‘You can have ambition, but not too much.’ ‘You should aim to be successful, but not too successful…’”

which is why, according to research, women feel less at ease with promoting themselves than men- which in turn means that they're less likely to do it.

However…

Mahlah and her 4 sisters (Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah) teach us that the best way to overcome this is to: