What mask are you wearing?

As I ventured out today, to pick up some essentials, I heard a familiar voice calling out to me… I turned around to find it was my neighbour … he was quite difficult to recognise him with his face mask & overgrown hair….

Face masks are becoming the new style statement these days! But, haven’t many of us worn masks on ourselves even earlier ?

Personality profiling has identified that people have used strong metaphorical masks at work, which restrain their true characteristics, behaviour or even beliefs. These masks are formed to create or maintain perceptions… the perceptions that we have about ourselves and others and the perceptions that we want others to have about us….

Masks can be useful sometimes & for a short duration, but long-term use of any mask feels suffocating!

If your work mask is holding you back; perhaps, due to the fear of inadequacy, fear of failure, fear of conflict, fear of rejection or isolation, fear of getting hurt, or fear of being judged; then WATCH OUT for these spoilers -

• Voice of judgement : It’s our inner voice that is either judging ourselves or judging others or judging circumstances; and stops us from being the best we can be.
• Fear factor: Our brains are hard-wired to look for and focus on threats which send us in search of finding ‘what’s the worst that can happen?’ and then one gets caught-up in trying to balance the ‘should I play it safe?’ or ‘should I challenge myself?’
• Killer of intuition: Albert Einstein has been widely quoted as saying, ‘The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honours the servant and has forgotten the gift.’ The best leaders often talk about trusting their instincts, commonly termed as their ‘gut’…. Are you killing yours?

‘I was never afraid of failure; for I would sooner fail than not be amongst the greatest’ — John Keats

#FridayMusings #MetaphoricalMasks #SuffocatingMasks #Judge #FearFactor #GutFeeling #Zenesse #PersonalBranding #ExecutiveCoaching #Perception

Stay safe & have a great weekend!