Think Fast Talk Smart: Communication Techniques

240. Belief It or Not: How to Rewrite the Narratives That Hold You Back

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Nov 4, 2025

Muriel Wilkins, an executive coach and author of Leadership Unblocked, shares insights on how limiting beliefs shape our behaviors. She reveals seven common beliefs that hinder leaders and introduces her three-step method: uncover, unpack, and unblock. Wilkins emphasizes the importance of mindset, showcasing research that demonstrates how our thoughts can alter outcomes. She also discusses the difference between healthy and toxic productivity and provides strategies for aligning our goals with our beliefs to enhance communication and success.

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INSIGHT

Seven Common Leadership Beliefs

Muriel Wilkins lists seven common leadership beliefs that often block effectiveness.
These beliefs frequently operate subconsciously and can explain recurring frustration.

ADVICE

Uncover, Unpack, Unblock

Use Wilkins' three-step process: uncover, unpack, unblock before taking action.
Reframe your self-talk to align beliefs with desired outcomes and then choose actions that reinforce the new belief.

ADVICE

Choose Healthy Productivity

Distinguish toxic productivity from healthy productivity and prioritize what matters.
Adopt a mantra like “I'll do the best I can with the time that I have” to work within constraints.

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How to identify and rewrite the limiting beliefs holding you back.

Achieving what you want in life doesn’t just hinge on what you believe about your future. According to Muriel Wilkins, it has just as much to do with what you believe about your past and present.

Wilkins is an executive coach, author, and host of the HBR podcast Coaching Real Leaders. In her new book, Leadership Unblocked: Breakthrough the Beliefs that Limit Your Potential, she explains how our personal and professional blocks often stem from our own limiting beliefs about ourselves. “A belief is a story that you tell yourself,” she says, “It is the operating principle that is driving your behavior and the decisions you make.” Before we can take actions that will lead us to where we want to go, we have to uncover these hidden beliefs. Otherwise, Wilkins says, “We'll come back right to where we started. It's not just about what we do, it's about what we think about what we do that makes all the difference."

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Wilkins and host Matt Abrahams explore the three-step process of uncover, unpack, and unblock — Wilkins’ method for identifying limiting beliefs, understanding how they might be shaping our behavior, and updating narratives to align with who we actually want to be.

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Chapters:

(00:00) - Introduction
(02:18) - The Seven Limiting Beliefs
(04:44) - Three Steps to Becoming Unblocked
(07:58) - Rethinking Values and Success
(09:13) - Healthy vs. Toxic Productivity
(11:57) - The Power of Mindset and Reframing
(14:33) - Reverse Engineering Your Goals
(17:42) - Managing Emotional Investment
(21:22) - The Final Three Question
(27:43) - Conclusion

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