8 Mental Habits the Most Successful People Learn to Break

It's not what you learn, but what you unlearn that matters.

Sometimes, success comes not from what you learn to do but what you learn to stop doing.

That bit of wisdom comes from Sandja Brügmann, serial entrepreneur and founder of the Passion Institute, a recently launched online educational program and consultancy for executives and entrepreneurs. "Once we have developed understanding of how we interfere with our visions and goals, then comes the challenging process of unlearning and changing specific behaviors," she explains.

Unlearning is hard work. "It requires one to move out of automatic behaviors and into conscious understanding, where we take control of our own actions and lives," Brügmann says. "It requires confronting uncomfortable feelings and an attentive vision for a different business life." In fact, she says, it takes many of the same skills that entrepreneurs need to succeed in their businesses. "It's a real act of self-love at a deep level," she says. It's also what you need to do to become a transformational leader.

What are some of the behaviors we all need to unlearn to become effective leaders? Here are the ones Brügmann says she encounters most often.

1. Pleasing
2. Being fuzzy about boundaries
3. Not speaking your mind
4. Avoiding failure
5. Letting fear hold you back
6. Negative thinking
7. Getting really, really busy
8. Looking for your power outside yourself

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