I used to think hard work alone was enough … I was wrong.

For a long time, I believed hard work was the answer.

If I stayed committed, did the right things, and kept going, things would eventually shift. I’d get that opportunity, finally be seen, finally be appreciated. And for a while, that belief worked. It delivered results and I built a career I was proud of.

But over time, something changed.

The effort stayed high, but the progress slowed down. And if I’m honest, although the ambition was still there, the energy wasn’t.

Because the truth is hard work without belief doesn’t create momentum. It creates exhaustion frustration and burnout.

When belief quietly limits what’s possible

If, deep down, you don’t believe something is available to you, you don’t move towards it.

You don’t take the risk.
You don’t explore the option.
You don’t even seriously consider it.

You work hard, but only within the boundaries of what you believe is realistic.

I can see this clearly in my own life now.

For years, I believed I wasn’t a good student. Not academically strong. Not “that person.”

So I didn’t apply for a degree, because I didn’t believe I could succeed.

Years later, when I finally challenged that belief, I made a different decision. I applied. I studied. I showed up differently and graduated with a first-class honours degree!

The cost of unchallenged beliefs

The same pattern showed up again later. I believed having my own coaching business was risky, unrealistic, and something “other people” did. So I stayed in secure roles. Sensible roles. Safe roles. I told myself it was the responsible choice.

What I didn’t acknowledge was that the belief underneath was shaping my behaviour and quietly limiting my options.

When that belief shifted, my actions shifted with it.

I took different steps. I made decisions I previously wouldn’t have considered. And I built a business that now exists because I no longer believed I had to choose security over fulfilment.

Why this matters now

It is the New Year and if you have set goals, working hard but feeling stuck, flat, or quietly frustrated, effort is rarely the issue.

More often, it’s the belief system you’re operating within, the one you’ve never had the space to examine. Until that shifts, even the most capable, driven people stay locked in cycles of overwork and under-fulfilment.

This is exactly the work we do inside the Growth Accelerator experience.

Not to motivate you.
Not to push you harder.

But to help you identify and shift the beliefs that are shaping your decisions.

Because when belief changes, behaviour follows.
And when behaviour changes, results finally catch up.

Growth Accelerator begins on 3rd Feb and currently the Early Bird Price of £67 is now available.

Let this be the year you stop hustling and start believing.