Maybe It's Time To Bust Some Myths

Your number one job in life should be to bust myths.

Why?

Because not doing so might keep you spinning round and round on a wheel of your own self-deception.

Round and round you will go on the wheel of self-deception - until, thankfully, the myth is busted.

Busted myths mean growth.

Busted myths mean new opportunities.

When I moved to America, and started a new life, so many myths got busted.

In India, having failed to learn to drive, I did not think driving in America was possible for me.

Within 6 months of moving to America, this myth was busted.

Not only did I learn to drive a car, I was zipping up and down freeways; to work; to see my brother and sisters; I even made a trip to Disneyland in my very first year of driving.

That was not the only myth that got busted.

I had been an advertising copywriter prior to moving to the US, and I had always thought being good with words automatically meant being hopeless with numbers.

Yet, within two years, I was in a Commissions Analyst job, a job in which I had to deal with numbers; numbers and nothing else, at that – and guess what  - it turned out I was pretty good at it.

So out went the idea of numbers not being my thing.

Ain't that something!

When I look back on my Commissions Analyst career, I remember looking at a blank Excel spreadsheet for the first time, and thinking, wow….all these squares with letters running across the top of the screen, and numbers running across the left of the screen.  What did it all mean? Being used to the blank space of Microsoft Word, Excel was unfamiliar and baffling to me.

I got even more frightened when I saw my first Excel formula. 

This is beyond my capacity, I thought – I have over-reached, I am doomed.

When the manager who hired me as a Commissions Analyst went on maternity leave shortly after hiring me, you can imagine how terrified I was.

“Laura, how will I ever do this without you being there to guide me? What if there’s a new hire, and I have to set up a commissions statement for them? What will I do then?” I asked, nervously.

“Don’t worry, Minoo” she said, “It will be fine.  Just copy my formulas if there’s a new hire.”

From that really scary beginning, I eventually went on to become super comfortable with Excel.  In fact, today, I am so comfortable with Excel, I routinely find vba to automate processes by searching online, and use the vba in my Commission Analyst assignments.

So you see how another myth got busted.

What myths need to be busted in your life?

Maybe it’s time to bust them.

For example, this may be one of the myths you need to bust – that only activities which generate money, or give you bragging rights, have value.

Of course not!

Besides hobbies, entertainment, and sports activities, pets are an example of something that can bring us a great deal of value, even though they will not add to our money, or our bragging rights.  A mixed breed mutt can add tons of value to our life; so much so, we would be willing to cough up substantial amounts of money to make sure they are happy, comfortable and well.

Some of the greatest satisfactions in my life have no money component.

Such as meditating, and going for walks, and writing my blog.

We have myths to bust in every area of our lives, career myths, health myths, skills myths, diet myths, even personality myths.

We may believe we cannot change our personality. 

Oh no, but we can.  We absolutely can!

I used to believe I had a short fuse.

Well, I did, until I didn’t.

I worked on my anger management issues and I got past them.

Really, truly, genuinely, got past them.

Today, it is very hard for me to get angry.

How is that even possible?

Another myth busted!

What myths need to be busted in your life?

What ‘I can’t do this' or 'I can’t do that’ myths are you holding on to?

Try doing the ‘this’ and the ‘that’ you think is not possible for you.

All my life, I thought I could never miss a meal – “I will get a sugar drop, you know”.

This myth got busted approximately 2 years ago, when I decided to try Intermittent Fasting.

Today, I can go 24 hours without a meal.  Yes, 24 hours without a meal, just a few cups of black coffee in the morning. I have done this several times.  In fact, once I even did it for 5 days in a row – went 24 hours without a meal, every day, for 5 days.

Challenge what you think you can do, and what you can’t do.

And challenge what you’ve been told.

And challenge what you think is the norm.

Challenge what you think about yourself.

What are the limits you are unnecessarily imposing on yourself?

What have you gotten used to, accepted as a way of life, that you don’t need to?

What haven’t you tried, because you think it is not for you, or you think it is beyond your capacity?

The more limiting ideas and myths you bust, the less sorry you will feel for yourself….

…..the less frustration you will experience…..

…..the less helpless you will feel.

.....the more confident you will feel about facing the world, and about the future.

Yes, maybe it’s time to bust some myths, and discover how much more you are capable of.

As always, thanks for sharing my Journey to Wisdom, Meaning and a Better Life.  Like you I am trying to find my way through this complex maze we call life, and I am honored to have you share my journey. I continue to keep seeking wisdom which is hidden in plain sight.

Thanks to Ajay for his compliments on my last post, and thanks to the rest of you for your likes, pins, shares, tweets and votes…..much appreciated….M ……a Pearl Seeker like you. 

Happy Birthday to those of you with July birthdays.  Hope you use your birthday month to birth something new and wonderful in your life. Try busting some self-limiting myths; you are sure to birth something new and wonderful in your life.

Posts to help you on your journey…

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The Element Of Focusing On Quality of Life Rather Than Quantity of Life

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The Element Of Becoming More Focused and Precise In Our Goals