My 11-year-old daughter and I recently went to see The Devil Wears Prada. She's a big fan of Anne Hathaway, the young actress who starred in The Princess Diaries, and she's increasingly passionate about fashion.
The
movie dazzled us with gorgeous clothes, fabulous makeup, and glamorous
locations in New York and Paris. But, while my little girl liked the
plot, I found it troubling. The movie's message? If you're a woman, you
can't have personal and professional success at the same time.
In other words, if you do too well at your job, your boyfriend will dump you.
In
the story, Meryl Streep's accomplished character, Miranda, loses her
third husband to divorce. Miranda's assistant, Andy, played by
Hathaway, finds that her friends and boyfriend abandon her as soon as
she starts getting respect at work.
The "you can't have it all" message to women is as old as time.
What
does this have to do with you? Well, if you desire a happy relationship
and a career but always end up with just one or the other, you can bet
this nefarious message has firmly lodged itself in your subconscious.
I
recently heard a savvy business owner (and happily married woman) say,
"Ninety-seven percent of the decisions you think you're making are
actually made for you. Your subconscious makes the decisions."
Please
do not discount the gravity of this statement. Your subconscious
absorbs messages from the media, your parents, and other influences,
and then it acts upon them. It creates your destiny.
With a
little effort, you can root those nasty messages out of your
subconscious by examining your beliefs about relationships, as well as
your ability to attract and keep one that's supportive, happy, and
drama-free.
For example, do you believe that you can be
successful on all fronts in your life, or in just one or two? If you
make too much money, will you turn off potential suitors? Are
relationships hard? Do they involve a lot of "work"? Will you have to
compete in a relationship? Will you have to suppress your dreams in
order to help a man achieve his?
Once you identify the limiting
beliefs you've developed, you can replace them with new ones. For
instance, if you believe it's impossible to have a joyful marriage and
successful career at the same time, bring to mind a friend or a famous
person who actually has them (the beautiful and talented Miss Meryl
Streep, for instance).
Then write an affirmation to support your new belief:
"I am happily married loyal, loving, reliable, fun man, and I'm wildly successful in my career as a ____________."
Repeat
the affirmation in the shower. Write it 25 times a day. Say it out loud
before you fall asleep at night. Keep this up for 30 days, at the very
least. Eventually, you will feel a shift within yourself.
And
then watch out. Once things on the inside change, the outside will,
too: Your career and love life will seem to magically come together!
As
for my daughter, I can't intercept every negative message she receives,
but I can help her to be aware of them. We had a discussion about the
message in The Devil Wears Prada. I told her not to believe it. I want this girl to "have it all."
And
if she believes she can, she will. Author Napoleon Hill said it best:
"Whatever your mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve."