Issue 02: Mentorship: Unblock Your Limiting Beliefs

Hi girls, how are you feeling today?
Brilliant, excellent or amazing?

I’d like to tell you a story of lost and found. There was a girl who was extremely bright and confident before she was 12 years old. She was excellent in academics and won a lot of table tennis and public speaking championships for her school. She was one of the most popular and beloved students to her school teachers and her parents were so proud of her.

When she got into secondary school, she wanted to excel, explore everything new and meet amazing people, like she had in primary. She remembered the saying “the world is your oyster” and she strongly felt it.

She signed up for all the interest groups she wanted to explore, and was ready to learn and shine. But one day, she was told that she was not allowed to sign up for all 5 interest groups because she wouldn’t be able to manage it. So she withdrew her application from the debate team, from table tennis and the choir, and just applied for volleyball and athletics.

And one day her best friend suggested that she should not join the athletics team because boys like girls if they sit still and are quiet, so she should join the book club instead, as it would make her more feminine. “That’s how a girl should behave,” said her friend.

Meanwhile, her parents told her not to outshine others, otherwise other girls would be jealous and she wouldn’t make any friends. “Be polite, well behaved. Be good but not too good, so you can fit in,” she heard. She had always been a good girl so she listened to all the “advice” because she was told that they were for her own good and she was “just too young to understand”. She tried very hard not to be too confident and outspoken, to live up to “good girl” standards. I think you can all imagine what happened to that girl, she “fitted in well” and lived a safe and mediocre life. Yes, that girl was me. I “fitted in” well for 15 years until I met my life-changing mentor, Debbie Mannas. She was my wake-up call from playing the “good girl” character and fulfilling everyone’s expectations.

it’s extremely important to look after your beautiful minds and develop a positive mentality and resilience

She held my hand and told me “Latitia you are so talented, you inspire me. I will be with you on your self-discovery / re-discovery journey.” She taught me that I could do everything I wanted to do, building incrementally and at my own pace and no one should be allowed to tell me what was too much for me. That I was the CEO of my own life and I always would be. That it was my responsibility to take ownership of my own success and embrace all the mistakes I made trying. She showed me a vivid image of a successful working woman, a caring mom and an inspiring mentor in one woman. And, I want to be that woman in my own right and inspire more girls / women on their journey to self-discovery.

When my fiancé asked me to join him in the UK in 2017, I was at first scared about moving to a new land, speaking English, leaving my family and my dream job in HK. But I shook off those fears and went anyway, and now I lead the Asia Pacific team at Anoushka, have joined the Cherie Blair Foundation as a Business Mentor and have been paying it forward by mentoring young girls and entrepreneurs.

We are all fed false information by institutions, media, people and the world around us about what is possible for us. Like Richard Rohr said “Transformation is often more about unlearning than learning.” You must unlearn all the things that give you limiting beliefs. It has been proven that 50% of success comes from education, talent, knowledge and skills but another 50% comes from who do you permit yourself to be and the mental image you paint of yourself. So, it’s extremely important to look after your beautiful minds and develop a positive mentality and resilience.

After mentoring and coaching so many young women, I realised there are a lot of limiting beliefs developed at a young age which have significant influence on all the decisions women make in life and impact on how they see themselves, their relationships and opportunities in the world. Girls, if you can find a positive influence or be one yourself, I encourage you to do so.

And so, besides my day job as Head of APAC and Strategic Partnerships for Anoushka, I am working to fulfil my promise to empower other women to transcend their limiting self-beliefs. This year, I founded my coaching and mentoring platform, HELLO BEAUTIFUL MINDS.

Hello to all the beautiful minds out there!

Believe you are worthy.
You are valuable.

Remember, only if you’re comfortable with yourself, you’re going to shine and radiate!

That’s my story of “Lost and Found”, what’s yours?