In my work with women throughout the years, I’ve found many beliefs that keep women down. Some of these beliefs have come from our up-bringing, some have come from our culture and some have come from our own internal processes. Until women begin to look at these beliefs and truly challenge them, we will likely continue to struggle in far too many relationships in our lives.
Below are the five most common beliefs that I believe wreak havoc in the lives of women today:
1. Women need to be nice. From birth, women are constantly told to be “nice.” We’re told to not hurt anyone’s feelings, put a smile on, make people comfortable, etc. The problem with this message is that “nice” ends up meaning to sacrifice one’s self for the greater good of everyone else. Sacrificing ourselves so others feel okay is a crazy notion that is hurting women and our culture at large. Until women learn to stand up for ourselves, we are destined to pay a heavy price.
2. Women need a man to feel worthy/okay/complete. From a young age, the pressure on females to have a boyfriend and, later, a husband is enormous. For some reason, our world leads us to believe that the attention of males in some way legitimizes the worthiness of females. This is crazy and dangerous thinking that sets young girls and women up to be abused and taken advantage of in relationships. Until females are taught to believe in themselves in their own right, we will continue to have far too many crimes against women. A man does not complete a woman. She was already complete long before the man came along. A man (if he’s a good man) simply adds to her life and vice-a-versa.




