As a Child Care Director, one of the questions I ask in an interview is “What is your view of the child?” Common responses are: “a blank canvas”, “someone who needs to be nurtured and loved”, “a little adult”, or “someone I can teach what I know”. I believe these answers come from a place of well-meaning, but they are dangerous beliefs that limit success… much like a tricycle brake.
In his book “Transform Yourself for Success”, Jack Canfield identified that limiting beliefs may start in our childhood. “Whether they knew it or not, our parents, grandparents, and other adult role models told us, No, no honey. That’s too much for you to handle. Let me do that for you. Maybe next year you can try that. We take this sense of inability into adulthood, where it gets reinforced through workplace mistakes and other “failures”. But what if instead you decided to say instead, I can do this. I am capable. Other people have accomplished this. If I don’t have the knowledge, there’s someone out there who can teach me. You make the shift to competence and mastery. The shift in thinking can mean the difference between a lifetime of “could have dones” and accomplishing what you really want in life.”
I was attracted to Vision Boards because I saw the parallels into what I knew from early years: the power of the brain, creating a future story / goal setting and just the sheer playfulness of the process. It drives home the responsibility we have as adults to reflect back to children what their image is and not creating limiting, untrue beliefs they will have to overcome as adults! We have an obligation to support and honour their resilience so they know they are capable of handling life, are not fearful and reinforce that that they are worthy of love.
The good news as adults is that you can overcome these limiting beliefs! I’m not smart, I’m not funny, Life is hard, I’ll never get rich in this profession. Instead, use affirmations similar to the technique to manifest goals. Make a positive statement to the limiting belief (eg. I am not smart enough. Instead say I know many things and I can learn). Using the power of intentional affirmations, say them out loud several times per day for 30 days and they will be implanted into your subconscious mind.
So, if you apply to our child care organization, you’ll already know one of the interviews questions. And if you want to knock my socks off, give me can example of how your image of the child is reflected in your daily practice. Imagine the liberty and freedom you are offering children when you see them as competent, capable of complex thinking, curious, rich in potential, and worthy of love.
Now, imagine the liberty and freedom you can offer yourself when you “take off the breaks and forward pedal” to discover and declare your dreams and goals!
