TRLW #009: Your Limiting Beliefs Block Your Content

Welcome to The Road Less Written—your monthly writing guide to build a magnetic digital presence.

First off, I'm sorry. I vanished from this newsletter for two months. Shifting from bi-weekly to monthly publishing threw me off rhythm, and big client projects (what pays the bills) took priority.

In this issue, we’ll explore:

• How therapy revealed my content creation barriers

• Three limiting beliefs blocking your online presence 

• How reality made me rewrite my story

• A simple framework to start sharing your voice

• How I can help

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Insights from therapy

2024 has been an emotional rollercoaster. Working for yourself isn’t for the fainthearted, especially when you throw in some life challenges.  

So I recently found myself in a therapist’s chair. Don’t worry, I’m good. But I wanted an outsider’s perspective into who I am.   

The therapist asked me to take a 'schema' quiz—a tool to uncover limiting “dis-beliefs” and stories I’ve built about myself and my relationships.

These schema stories shape everything: 

• How you connect 

• How you work 

• And yes, how you show up online. 

I’m not a therapist or psychologist. But my experience may help you uncover some blind spots. Here are 3 self-talk stories I discovered.

1. The “I’m not good enough” story (defectiveness and shame)

How you feel:

• Overly self-critical.

• Flawed and unworthy.

• Moments of low self-esteem.

• Seeking validation and approval but fearing rejection. 

• Avoiding situations where you might be judged or exposed.

How it showed up for me:

• I opened my LinkedIn account in 2006 but didn’t post content until 2023. Why? Old employers might read it. Strangers might judge it. Friends might laugh. (In reality, people are too busy with their own lives to care.)

2.  The “I’ll handle it alone” story (emotional deprivation)

How you feel:

• Your emotional needs will not be met by others. 

• Lonely, isolated, or unworthy of love and support. 

• Struggling to trust others or form deep emotional connections.

• Feeling you have to fend for yourself emotionally.

How it showed up for me: 

• Moving to a small Australian town from London—leaving behind a lucrative career and a strong network—and quickly becoming a single parent.  It felt like I’d landed on Mars. No handbook, no safety net—just me, figuring it out step by step.

• Running a remote solo business and the loneliness that comes with it. At times, I even considered getting a job just to be around people.

3. The “others first” story (self-sacrifice)

How you feel:

• Putting others’ needs before your own, often at the cost of your well-being.

• Feeling guilty for asserting your needs, leading to resentment and burnout.

• Constantly playing the caretaker role.

How it showed up for me: 

• Undercharging for my services (I have a teaching and charity background).

• People pleasing and accepting bad business deals to avoid conflict.

• Offering discounts to “keep the peace,” when I should have stood my ground.

Plot twist: reality rewrote my story  

I lost my only retainer in 2022. After 16 years of using LinkedIn as a dormant digital resume, I finally started posting. The necessity of paying the bills to keep doing what I loved (writing) forced me to challenge my limiting beliefs (which quickly became a luxury problem). 

Over time, readers began sharing how helpful my writing tips were.

Now, 2 years later, all my current clients (except one) are from LinkedIn. (And most who hired me never liked a post.) A mentor once said, “Entrepreneurship is the best form of personal development, with lucrative rewards.” 

Whenever I’m hesitant to post on LinkedIn (especially when I’m swamped with client work), I remind myself: 

• It’s a tool to grow my business. 

• It keeps my son in a good school. 

• It’s a network of people who need and can afford what I offer.

• It lets me set my hours around when I’m most productive. 

• It gives me flexibility and time for other experiences I love.

A simple framework to start sharing your voice

To start:

1. Share stories (how you got started in your career) - example. 

2. Share lessons (what you learned in your projects) - example. 

3. Share your receipts (proof of client results) - example.

To go deeper - write posts to your ideal client:

1. What’s their biggest pain or frustration(s)?*

2. What have your clients tried before and what went wrong?*  

3. What questions do they ask you?

4. Why do they hire you?

5. What problem do you solve?

*Don’t know? Ask your best previous client (or the type of client you’d like to work with). 

When you speak directly to your ideal client’s pain and desires, you position yourself as the obvious solution.

To wrap up, if you take away 1 thing from this newsletter:

Limiting “dis-beliefs” might be blocking your best work. If you’re not reaching the people who need your skills, you’re hurting your bank account—and potential. (2 things that have kept me awake at night.)

So take the schema quiz and start rewriting your story. 

Until next month,

Steve “Less Limiting Beliefs” Costello 

How I can help

1. Ghostwriting (5M+ views driven) → I write 1 month of posts from 1 interview to attract leads for your business.

2. Your Head of Content (1.5M+ words edited since 2014) → I edit the posts you write and/or co-create ideas with you. 

Reply to this email, and let’s talk before my prices increase on Jan 1.

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