Finding a Way Forward by Letting Go of Limiting Beliefs

Soo Young had an exceptionally difficult childhood. Her parents died when she was 14, leaving her to support herself and send her younger brother, three years her junior, to relatives. She did every kind of work to survive and pay for education. At 28, when she came to ME&WE, she had graduated from a prestigious Seoul university and worked at a multinational there. Life appeared better, but she remained burdened by responsibility for her brother. She also felt she had to buy a house in her rural hometown to impress relatives who had never cared whether the siblings lived or died. This belief trapped her: she worked relentlessly, saved for a house and sent money to her brother. He had no intention of studying or working and lived entirely on her money. 

At 28, she began thinking about her own life, but could not abandon the house dream or ‘abandon’ her brother. Stopping his allowance felt like abandonment. Through coaching, she realised her generous support was a major reason he lacked motivation to work or progress. Proving herself to relatives also brought none of the value she wanted; it only weighed her down. Freed from those beliefs, she could move forward more lightly. She once believed her brother would die without her help, yet within two months he had found a job. Sometimes firmly held beliefs are not facts; they exist only in our minds, yet hold our entire lives back.