🔓 The biggest limits you face… are the ones you place on yourself

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🔓 The biggest limits you face… are the ones you place on yourself

Nearly every colleague I bump into asks me, do you miss being on the telly?

And the answer is always no. Why? Because the truth is, I was terrified of public speaking.

I don’t mean butterflies. The kind of fear where your mind goes blank.

A few years back, I had to front the media as the ATO’s spokesperson.

I remember standing behind the cameras, palms sweaty, knees weak, arms heavy (cue Eminem).

I had prepped. I knew the facts. I could say the words.

But I blanked out.

Deep down, I didn’t believe I was the right person to say them.

That’s what self-imposed limits look like. You don’t need someone else to tell you, “you can’t”, because you’re already whispering it to yourself.

I got through my first 📺 interview. Then I did another. And another.

And eventually, people started saying, “You’re a natural.”

But here are 3️⃣ tidbit truths that I learnt:

1️⃣ Discipline > Motivation

I rehearsed in the mirror. I analysed my interviews. I got feedback.

Tiny, consistent reps. Motivation wavers. Discipline doesn’t.

After one appearance on live breakfast TV, a friend texted:

You belong there.

I didn’t know how to respond. Because in my head, I was still the guy sitting quiet as a mouse in a team meeting 10 years ago.

2️⃣ Rejection is Redirection

Not every interview landed. But I realised something important. None of it was personal, it was just feedback.

Every “not quite” was steering me closer to “nailed it.”

Rejection wasn’t proof I couldn’t do it. It was proof I was in the arena.

3️⃣ Identity is Not Fixed

The guy who feared public speaking? He still lives in me.

But he isn’t in the driver’s seat anymore.

Every live cross, every radio grab, every speech I did and do. It wasn’t one big leap, it was hundreds of small steps, consistent over time with trajectory leads to confidence. Every time I stepped into the arena, I was re-writing my identity.

Remember: Confidence = Action + Consistency + Trajectory

Thought Provoking Quotes on this week’s topic

Brian Tracy

You begin to fly when you let go of self-limiting beliefs and allow your mind and aspirations to rise to greater heights.

Buddha

The mind is everything. What you think you become.

Further resources