Is this Self Knowledge or a Limiting Belief?
On growing older and staying new
When I was 17, I had not yet closed the door on becoming a footballer, an actor, a comedian, a writer, an investment banker, an entrepreneur, a journalist, a monk, and a dozen other things.
Now at 23, all but 3 or 4 of those ambitions have fallen away¹. When I’m 29, the list will probably be even shorter.
This is something we do as we grow older. We steadily narrow the domain of what we expect of ourselves.
And much of this narrowing is well-founded. As we experience life and test ourselves in different situations, we learn more about what we can do. And this often makes clear that some paths are not for us.
This can be a good thing. We become better at accepting who we are.
But do we also become better at closing the door on possibility?
Put another way: if I think I’m an introvert, is that self-knowledge or a limiting belief?
It’s self-knowledge if, after years of torturing myself in social situations, I accept that I’m introverted and start saying no to the parties.
But if I keep saying no to new experiences, I may never give myself the chance to discover that I’m an introvert who also loves being on stage…
