Sometimes, it’s not what you learn, but what you unlearn that matters. Mental habits are not easy to break.
That bit of wisdom comes from Sandja Brugmann, a serial entrepreneur and founder of the Passion Institute, an educational program and consultancy for executives and entrepreneurs.
“Once we have developed understanding of how we interfere with our visions and goals, then comes the challenging process of unlearning and changing specific behaviors,” she explains.
Unlearning is hard work. “It requires one to move out of automatic behaviors and into conscious understanding, where we take control of our own actions and lives,” Brugmann says. “It requires confronting uncomfortable feelings and an attentive vision for a different business life.” In fact, she mentions, it takes many of the same skills that entrepreneurs need to succeed in their businesses.
What are some of the mental habits we all need to unlearn to become effective leaders? People pleasing, being fuzzy about boundaries, avoiding failure, and looking for your power outside of yourself are just a few examples of the mental habits not helping us.
Read about the top 8 behaviors we need to unlearn based on Brugmann’s observations in the article, 8 Mental Habits the Most Successful People Learn to Break, by Inc. author Minda Zetlin.