Limiting beliefs create a disempowering cycle by subconsciously causing you to sabotage your progress which then only serves to confirm and strengthen that limiting belief.
Your inner beliefs are the perceptions you have of yourself that have been programmed into your brain over time; very often since you were a child. They come from your experiences, family, friends, school, society, television, books, etc.
We form beliefs because they simplify our lives. For example, if you get burned by a hot stove, the next time the stove is hot you won’t touch it because you believe that you will get burned. This is an example of a positive belief that simplifies your life and protects you.
However self-limiting beliefs cause your life to lose its richness because you are viewing your experiences through a negative filter. For example, if you are hurt in a relationship you may start to believe that all men/women are the same; this belief will prevent you from seeing anyone that does not fit into that negative belief pattern.
As time goes on and you experience more negative results (often fueled by the self-doubt you already have), your uncertainty begins to grow stronger and stronger, until it reaches the point where it is a rock-solid belief that has become deeply rooted in your mind. It has become part of your identity.
At this point even if you do manage to follow your heart and take action towards your dreams, your limiting beliefs will subconsciously cause you to sabotage your progress and send you back to your old self (which then only serves to confirm and strengthen that limiting belief).
A self-limiting belief tells you that you can’t do something.
- I’m not good enough.
- I’m not experienced enough.
- I tried before and failed, I probably will this time to.
- I can’t do it because there are so many people who do it better than I do.
- I’m too tall (short, thin, fat, etc.)
- Nobody loves me anyway, so guess I’ll just eat some worms.
Okay, so I just threw that last one in there to see if you were paying attention. The point is these kinds of beliefs silently trip you up and then you wonder why you can never seem to get ahead.
How to Overcome Self-Limiting Beliefs
Begin by uncovering your limiting beliefs: To uncover your limiting beliefs you have to pay attention to your daily thoughts so that if you find yourself feeling particularly negative or resistant to something, you can begin exploring your feelings and attitude. Some beliefs are hard to uncover because they were formed at a very young age. Some of your beliefs were taken from your parents and they no longer serve you, however they keep filtering your experiences their own way because you fail to notice and eliminate them.
Be willing to own your beliefs: The most important thing to understand is that these beliefs are the stories you tell yourself, they are not facts. Unless your belief is something that was given to you, which means you are heavily influenced by society, it is well within your power to change that story to a positive outcome. You are only limited by your thoughts.
Find heroes who have overcome similar challenges: There are very few experiences in life that someone else hasn’t already gone through and gained some insight as a result. For example, if you are seriously overweight and you believe it’s impossible to get in shape and become healthy, find 3 or more people who used to be overweight and managed to get slim and study their stories … learn from their successes and failures.
Then say to yourself, “If they can do it, then so can I!”
The more you prove your self-limiting belief wrong, the weaker it becomes. Eventually it will fade away and lose its power over you, and in the process you will become more confident and self-assured.
Master Self-Motivation: When you are self-motivated you have the power to overcome negative beliefs and improve your own morale and overall quality of life through your attitude, resilience and mental toughness without the necessity of external influences.
Begin today to awaken your self-motivation:
- Take the time to create a clear vision of what you really want in your life.
- Establish your highest life priorities.
- Raise your personal standards and avoid settling for less than you deserve.
- Develop the habit of finishing what you start.
- Enthusiasm and positive attitude are contagious so socialize with achievers and people with similar interests or goals.
- Persistence, patience and redefining failure as an opportunity rather than ‘the end’ fuel self-motivation and achievement.
- Constantly affirm to yourself that you can and will create the life you want and deserve for yourself.
Build upon strengths, and weaknesses will gradually take care of themselves. ~Joyce C. Lock
Obviously none of these steps are ‘quick fixes.’ If your self-limiting beliefs are deeply rooted it’s going to take time and repetition to remove them for good; but like many challenges in life, being aware of the problem is half the solution!
The good news is no matter how long you’ve held a particular belief you can always eliminate it because you have the power to write a better story … to choose your beliefs and they way you want to live your life.
If you enjoyed this article or would like to contribute to the conversation, please take a moment to leave a comment … or if you’re a regular visit to IGG and would be interested in leaving a kind word or two, please pop over to my new Testimonial page … either way, love to hear from you!
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Be pleased that you don’t have everything you want. If you did, what would you hope for? What would bring meaning to your life? ~ A.M.L.
Whenever I visit IGG I’m always inspired by the picture on the right with the text that says, stop saying ‘I wish’ and start saying ‘I will’. There are so many people in my life who relish saying, ‘I wish…’. I think it gives them pleasure to just think about what they want to do, because wishing is always safe. ‘I wish’ is a term that keeps you tucked up nicely in your comfort zone. All you have to do is stay put and imagine. And we all can imagine, right? ‘I will’ is the hard one. It signifies action, determination and many times – failure.
Here are 3 ways to turn ‘I wish’ into ‘I will’.
Turn ‘I wish’ into ‘I will’ by accepting you may fail the first time
We tell our kids that you can only learn something well if you keep practising – I know, I do. My son tries something once, and if he fails he says, ‘but I can’t do it!’ Of course, he can’t. No one’s born with talents tucked under their sleeves. Even those of us who have a natural propensity to do certain things have to first identify that thing then pick up the tools necessary to get it done. Turn your ‘I wish’ into ‘I will’. Stop looking for ways to avoid the first step. Don’t say I’ll start it in the new year, or once the kids have left home, or when the dog has given birth. Take that first step now. Get up and turn your wish into something concrete. You may fail the first couple of times, but this is only because you’re not yet used to following up with wishes. Identify what the very first step to achieving you wish is and take it.
Don’t worry about the bigger picture. Consider this: read more…
To give real service you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity and integrity.” –Douglas Adams
Regardless of whether you’re on the receiving or delivery end … it happens to everyone at some point. You’ve found what looks like a fascinating article, or the perfect bit of information for your business, only when you click on the link what you end up with is one of those annoying 404 page not found error messages. Sometimes there’s a path back to where you started … sometimes you’re left hanging all alone in cyberspace.
Basically a “404 error” appears when you try to get to a website or URL but the site or page is unavailable, unreachable or simply no longer there. There are different reasons why a website becomes unreachable or unavailable but regardless of the reason, it’s always an unwelcome surprise.
In his informative and humorous TED Talk, Renny Glesson tells the story of turning the 404 page dead end into a relationship building bridge … read more…
Be content with what you have, rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you. ~Lao Tzu
For most people, regardless of their chosen field, going to work day after day is a necessity rather than an option.
The good news is that regardless of how rewarding, challenging or taxing your work may be, you can choose to focus on your own happiness and make the day-to-day tasks more manageable and even enjoyable. To create and maintain a sunny disposition, try these simple stay-happy tactics.
Congratulate Yourself
Sometimes work can feel thankless. If you often feel like you’re toiling away and not being recognized for your efforts, do something about it. Instead of waiting for someone else to notice how hard you’re working congratulate yourself by setting up your own rewards system with treats when you accomplish certain goals. If, for example, you just finished a rigorous online class or training program, treat yourself to a night out with friends as an immediate reward. Similarly, if you hit a home run with your most recent project at work, indulge yourself with a manicure or some other treat as a congratulatory reward. Knowing your own personal bonus program is out there may also help you accomplish tasks more efficiently. read more…
Experts estimate that we experience an average of 73 interruptions per day – and that’s just in the workplace.
Imagine it’s a busy day and you’re feeling good because you are on a roll, making real progress on an important task or project; all of a sudden the phone rings, an e-mail alarm goes off, a colleague asks for a favor, your mother-in-law stops by “spur of the moment,” you’re called to school to pick up a sick child, etc. Uh oh, sidetracked again!
Experts estimate that on average we are interrupted 73 times per day – and that’s just at work. Add family, friends and children to the mix and you may even double that number.
Your definition of “interruption” may affect one way or the other whether or not you agree with this number, but in basic terms an interruption is anything that you didn’t expect to happen at that time and that either delays or sidetracks you from what you are doing.
Regardless of the nature or inconvenience they may create, the most basic thing to keep in mind about interruptions is that they are rarely intended to be disruptive. The simple truth is that most people you come in contact with during any given day will have their own agenda that may or may not include consideration for your schedule or priorities.
Planning and adaptability are the keys to effectively avoid being sidetracked by interruptions
- Own your interruptions. Try thinking of an interruption as an offer, and your decision as to whether you will take the interruption as a counter-offer. It is okay to say “Thanks for your call/visit. I do want to speak with you, but now is not a good time. Can we talk/meet at 2:00 p.m. instead?” There … you just made a counter-offer. read more…
