269: Are YOUR Limiting Beliefs Secretly Capping Your Kids' Future Success?

My conversation with a non-profit CEO, a long-time mentor, recently turned to our dreams for our children. It began when she shared how her mother had praised her beautiful New Jersey home, which led her to reflect: "I'd want my kids to live in castles! I want them to have even more than I do."

Like any parent, I want my three sons to surpass me in every aspect of life—and even create new categories beyond AI to conquer!

However, I've realized my own limiting beliefs and stress responses could unknowingly cap their success if I don't consciously address them. For example, my fear of openly competing or declaring my ambition for first place—how can my sons confidently compete on a world stage if I haven't confronted this fear? Similarly, if we avoid networking because we fear rejection, can we effectively teach our children to build connections?

This is where our greatest opportunity for inter-generational impact lies: facing our own limitations so they don't become our children's inheritance.

My mother's primary concern was the potential inheritance of her manic depression. This fear led her to anxiously await my thirtieth birthday, believing symptoms would likely manifest before then if I were to inherit it. This sparked my curiosity about breaking the cycle of inherited limiting beliefs for my own sons. For thirteen years, as a mother, I've considered how to proactively guide my children toward success. I believe we can break negative cycles and cultivate a new model of success by nurturing their strengths, fostering healthy mindsets, and focusing on key skills like imagination, cross-cultural thinking, and resilience. This is about empowering our children from the start.

Generational patterns often include inherited personality traits, impacting education and career choices. Families frequently pass down expectations and lessons, often along gender lines. These inherited mindsets shape our understanding of what it means to be a girl or boy within our family. Children observe and adopt behaviors they perceive as normalized expectations. They may also be explicitly taught specific ways of thinking, especially in early childhood. Limiting beliefs can also be passed down. In my family, I observed a lack of desire or ability to ascend into leadership positions or gain mastery in a field. My mother, a secretary for corporate leaders, held a strong limiting belief that she lacked the intelligence to provide valuable recommendations. This idea was ingrained in me, driving my need for external validation in corporate settings. While this mindset sometimes helped me in corporate life, it didn't translate well into entrepreneurship. My mother's limiting belief was essentially a form of impostor syndrome.

Her lack of confidence stemmed from various factors. As a child, I mistakenly attributed it to her not having a four-year degree. She often mentioned her inability to finish her degree as a working mom. Yet, her illness and its constant disruptions likely caused her to question her ability to contribute meaningfully to leadership conversations. As a child, I simply saw her as a secretary supporting leaders. Our family felt inconsequential. This perception shifted when I met children from families who held positions of influence. I realized I needed to address this inherited limiting belief. Though young, caring for my mother fostered a sense of maturity, allowing me to envision a different future. I didn't want to simply play a supporting role.

So, where did I start? 1980s sitcoms like Who's the Boss? sparked my career aspirations. I wanted that life: Connecticut, business owner, advertising. Without a mentor, TV was my guide. Summers stamping travel brochures ignited my wanderlust. London, Singapore – the world felt attainable. My mom didn't travel, but I craved that broader experience. I knew life beyond my zip code held possibilities.

I worked with what I had: imagination. I had a career blueprint from fiction, then exposure to someone who explored globally my stepmother owned a travel agency. I realized following their path wouldn't be easy, but I had something they didn't teach on TV – resilience, inherited from my mom. I knew I could stumble, fall, and get back up.

Ultimately, I achieved that dream: Connecticut, Ogilvy & Mather, even Australia for 3.5 years. My podcast, The Mom Founder Imagination Hub, features conversations with world leaders. These realities weren't in my original blueprint, but resilience was my active ingredient. What's yours? If you want more for your kids, discover it.

Imagination, cross-cultural thinking, resilience – these are the tools