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Hello {{first_name | There}}!
For years, every time something in my career improved, I quietly expected something else to be taken away.
For a long time in my early career, I carried a belief I never said out loud. It was simple, but heavy.
“Every time I rise, something will be taken away from me.”
I didn’t consciously choose this belief. It formed quietly, through small experiences that seemed unrelated at the time.
How the Pattern Formed
When I received my first promotion, the company changed its policy. Our team no longer had a separate office space. We were made to sit on the operations floor.
When I earned my next promotion, the travel policy changed. Business-class travel was removed for that level. Whoa!
When I moved into a more senior role, they changed things again. Individual cabins for senior managers were removed entirely.
None of these decisions were personal. They were organizational choices.
But over time, my mind connected the dots.
Each step forward seemed to come with a small loss. And without realizing it, I started expecting that trade-off.
The Belief Settles In
That expectation changed how I experienced success.
I kept achieving more, but I also started bracing for less. I celebrated wins quietly. I learned not to get attached to perks. I trained myself to expect something to be taken away.
What I didn’t realize then was this.
That belief didn’t stay in my job. It followed me.
Carrying the Same Mindset Into Entrepreneurship
When I stepped into entrepreneurship, I carried the same mental model with me.
There was no safety net. No fallback plan. No cushion.
At one point, I was carrying more than $100,000 in personal debt. I wasn’t thinking about growth or vision. I was thinking month to month. Survival, not expansion.
That belief was still running in the background.
If something improves, something else will be lost.
The Moment That Changed Everything
Then something unexpected happened. The day I cleared my entire debt, I didn’t feel relief. Instead, I felt a different question rise up.
“If this was possible, what else have I been limiting?”
That question stopped me. Not because of the money. But because of what it revealed.
What Actually Changed
Nothing external changed overnight. No sudden luck. No miracle opportunity. What changed was internal.
I stopped assuming that growth had to come with loss. I stopped expecting balance to be taken away when progress arrived.
And slowly, the pattern shifted.
In the months that followed, I crossed my first million. I made investments I had previously ruled out mentally. Opportunities began appearing in ways that felt normal rather than surprising.
Stability stopped feeling fragile. Growth stopped feeling temporary. Freedom stopped feeling theoretical.
The Real Lesson
Here’s what I learned the hard way.
Mindset is not motivation. It is not optimism. It is not positive thinking. Mindset is the filter through which you decide what is possible and what is not.
It quietly sets the upper limit on what you allow yourself to pursue, accept, or sustain.
Hard work matters. Discipline matters. Consistency matters. But mindset decides the ceiling.
What I See More Clearly Now
When I expected limitations, I kept finding them.
When I stopped expecting them, they stopped showing up as often.
This wasn’t about entitlement. It was about permission.
Permission to grow without apology.
Permission to succeed without anticipating loss.
Permission to believe that progress does not require punishment.
A Question Worth Sitting With
If I could leave you with one question, it would be this.
“What belief are you carrying quietly that is shaping your expectations without you noticing?”
Sometimes growth doesn’t require more effort. It requires letting go of an old assumption.
If this entry resonated, I share these reflections regularly on LinkedIn as well. Lessons from the field, the work, and the realities behind mastery. You can follow me there if you’d like to stay connected.
Until the next diary entry.
Reduce noise. Build capability. Stay the course.
Regards,
Rahul G. Iyer.
