Silvio  a young tourist guide in La Habana, Cuba who spent 5 hours showing us  around his city this April.     He is 30 and married and spoke excellent English and some French.    Silvio talked about his life growing up in Cuba and often quoted his father who he  obviously respected.   

Silvio was a professor at the University of Habana and taught English literature, his knowledge of both Spanish and English literature was amazing.    He understood the nuances of both languages and argued that neither should ever be translated into the other as so much authenticity was lost.

We asked Silvio why he didn’t write a book.   He had thought about it but his father told him that ‘you cannot write literature unless you include all of life, not just the good bits’.  Silvio said that he could not write about all of life because some parts were too painful to remember.   Silvio would make a great writer.

How often do we not do something because we are influenced by someone else’s words or judgements?   These messages from others can set up barriers and limiting self beliefs in ourselves.   We then make our choices based on the perceived truth of these messages.     I am sure Silvio’s father would be sad to realise that he stopped his son from achieving something great in life.   

How can we overcome these limiting self beliefs?  Becoming aware that you may be making choices in your life based on other people’s messages and judgements is a good starting point.

Silvio will probably never read this blog as the internet is not readily available to most Cubans.    There are no ‘superbrands’, Coca Cola, McDonalds and Starbucks have no presence in Cuba yet and there are no advertisements allowed.     It is quite a unique place in the world.