Self-Ignited Liberation: Rewiring Mental Roadblocks for Career Success - #14

“When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put away childish things.” – 1 Corinthians 13:11

Key Takeaways in This Newsletter:

• Healing your inner child isn’t about going backward—it’s about reclaiming the parts of you that were silenced, scared, or shaped by survival.
• You were never meant to wait for permission to thrive.
• It’s natural to hesitate around consistency and commitment—especially when past experiences made success feel unsafe.
• Not naming what you want can feel like a safe choice—but clarity is what invites aligned opportunities.
• Degrees, titles, and expertise don’t erase unhealed beliefs.

Click here to obtain the Rewiring Mental Roadblocks Workbook for more support and guidance on this topic.

We don't always realize how much of our professional identity was shaped before we ever stepped foot into the workplace.

The inner child—the part of us that learned to survive by being agreeable, silent, overly independent, or constantly striving for perfection—is often still present in our career decisions. And when those childhood wounds go unacknowledged, they quietly influence how we lead, how we advocate for ourselves, and how we build legacy.

This isn’t about blame. It’s about becoming aware of what’s been running in the background so you can finally lead from your power—not your past.

What if the barriers you’re facing in your career aren’t about your skills, your timing, or your worth…

…but the mental roadblocks you inherited from a version of you who had no choice but to survive?

In high-achieving professionals, unhealed inner child wounds often show up as logical reasons for “why it’s not working”—when in reality, their subconscious program is whispering:

• “It’s safer not to try.”
• “You’re too much.”
• “You’re not enough.”
• “It’s selfish to want more.”

There’s nothing that will interrupt these thought patterns besides acknowledgement and actively working to rewire the programming that keeps giving you directions to the same unfavorable results in your career and life for that matter.

Identifying the patterns is the first step to naming the issue, acknowledgement of it makes you aware of when it’s happening in real time, and that grants you the power to make different choices…choices that will liberate you from the hidden limitations that you never knew you were putting on yourself.

Inner Child Wounds in a Professional Suit

It’s easy to overlook what may be an inner child issue as being “just the way you are”, without any insight on this concept and how it works you could easily lead your entire life believing that your current identity is solely one you created on your own…

Inner child wounds are emotional or psychological wounds connected to childhood experiences usually involving unmet needs, trauma, or neglect. These wounds tend to affect adulthood by way of self-esteem issues, difficulty with relationship building, negative self-talk, and struggles with demonstrating vulnerability that builds trust and intimacy.

The experience that leads to an inner child wound does not have to be some terrible ordeal, it could be as simple as you formulating an assumption based on an unfavorable experience such as winning awards and doing great in school but never feeling acknowledged or celebrated for it.

This could show up in the workplace as perfectionism, indifference or even avoidance of growth, a loss of inner clarity masked by checking the generic boxes of success, or professionalism that leaves no room for humanness.

If you identify with any of these things, you can rest in knowing that you are not subjected to continuing to lead your career in this manner. You have the freedom to shed the beliefs that led to these behaviors as they were designed to be mechanisms of defense. 

You don’t need the protection of these things anymore, it’s time to clean up the emotional residue of the past. You can do this by rewiring your mind to act on behalf of the professional you truly desire to be.

The Mental Roadblocks Keeping Your Stuck

In my time of coaching high-achieving professionals, I’ve noticed multiple similarities between people who are having a hard time conquering the next level in their career. They are usually facing one of three mental roadblocks: 

1. Mental Incapacity - Self-inflicted exhaustion or overwhelm that threatens growth. 
2. A Perceived Lack of Technical Capability - Inability to believe you can learn new things.
3. The Absence of Validation through Formal Accreditation - Feeling like there’s always more to achieve before the time is right to act

Being up against these roadblocks almost always makes the professional present in a child-like manner that isn’t beneficial to where they want to go–you’re using their imagination against yourself instead of for yourself. 

Like children they feel helpless, uncertain, and avoidant of commitment because you have already convinced yourself that you can’t have what it is you are truly looking for in the next phase. Staying in this rut not only means leading like a child but also eventually developing a perpetual victim mentality that we’ve discussed in a previous newsletter.

You don’t have to hand your power over and accept that life is happening to you during this time, you can stand on having some control over your being by being intentional about the words you use to describe yourself and your situation and acknowledging the power of your choices. Life can happen through you…

Reparenting is Strategic Career Advice

When you allow yourself to emotionally grow up, your career will mature as well. Reparenting the parts of you that hinder progress is about recognizing when your present is being hijacked by a version of you that didn’t feel safe, heard, seen, or whole. 

This allows you to effectively lead yourself and others while healing. Your process can coexist with the progress, you just have to accept the imperfect part of you. Here’s a reparenting process for reconnecting you to your power as you assess a triggering situation in the workplace:

1. Pause & Identify the Trigger (Mind)
2. Locate the Reaction in Your Body (Body)
3. Connect to the Inner Wound (Soul)Reflect on when you first felt the emotion connected to this experience, allow the memory to surface, and direct you on how to be the protector for yourself that the previous version of you needed.
4. Speak to the Younger You (Mind + Soul)What reassurance can you provide yourself now to help you overcome this experience and take back your power?
5. Respond with Boundaries, Not Burdens (Body + Mind)Self-trust is built in what you do next…what boundary or aligned action would best support you now? Act from awareness, not abandonment.
6. Reflect & Reset the Narrative (Soul + Integration)Each response that is anchored in your wholeness allows you to rewrite the narrative, learn more about yourself, and provide insight on what you’re healing at this time.

You can be a powerful leader AND have compassion for yourself.

Putting Away Your Childish Ways Once and For All

What would it feel like to lead from a regulated, resourced, and spiritually-rooted place? Whatever you imagine it to be is what happens when you choose to apply some “adulting” to your career and inner child wounds. You no longer need anyone to rescue you, the commitment to healing and making better choices is accepted, and you view healing as part of your leadership.

This version of you treats your nervous system like a business asset, not something that’s in the way and needs to be tucked away without assessment. You understand that your follow through is strongly impacted by your ability to trust yourself so you become more patient with yourself. 

There’s no one to sign a permission slip for the moves you choose to make, you own that and validate yourself so that the external applause is viewed as extra and not necessary.

The victim mentality doesn’t stand a chance because you are prepared to advocate for yourself, choose yourself, and devote yourself to the discipline required to climb higher–it’s no longer viewed as the punishment your inner child equated it to.

You can dream safely, bask in the glow of delayed gratification, and offboard the emotional DNA of your upbringing as you see fit.

Will you rewire yourself in the name of liberation and success?

Closing Thoughts

You can’t become the leader you were called to be by silencing the version of you that needed to be heard the most. Don’t allow the workplace to convince you that your entire being isn’t part of your development and growth. There is nothing another degree, certification, or title can do to address the insecurities you feel within yourself as a professional. You have to address your baggage in order to pack the light required to make an impact and lead a rewarding career and life.

Reparenting your inner child is a practice, it will save you over and over again when faced with the internal battles that try to stop you from experiencing the success you want and deserve. It serves as the rewire to the mental blocks when implemented consistently. 

Liberate yourself from the self-doubt, anxiety, and negative self-talk by igniting the opposite self-trust, faith, and reassurance.

Hey, I'm MiMi--thanks for reading this newsletter.

Need support in maintaining consistency, high frequency thoughts, actionable tips that will assist you in achieving a better career or life experience?

You can grab my recently released new workbook, Rewiring Mental Roadlocks: Leadership Advancement Advancement with Integrity and Inner Peace, that contains many of the frameworks and exercises that have allowed past clients to increase their confidence, raise their salaries, pivot into new industries, and attain a better work-life harmony.