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This post is all about self limiting beliefs and how to overcome them.
The one thing stopping you from living your dream life is yourself.
From the moment we wake up to the moment we go to sleep, all our actions, decisions, and thoughts are controlled by our beliefs.
But not only that, but our success, our capabilities, and our potential are also influenced by these ideas.
But based on what kind of beliefs, positive or negative ones? Empowering or limiting?
If you feel like it´s time to take control of your life, break out of the cycle of self-limiting beliefs, and start taking steps toward achieving the amazing goals you have set for yourself you are in the right place!
By the end of this article, you will have learned:
- What are belief
- Where limiting beliefs come from
- A list of the 5 most common liming beliefs examples (and how to specifically overcome them)
- 4 strategies to break free from your negative thoughts.
So grab a notebook, and a pen and buckle up because we are about to begin a journey to unlock your true potential and become a better person by busting your self limiting beliefs.
If you want to pin this article for later now is the moment!
What are self limiting beliefs and where do they come from?
Before we dive deep into where self limiting beliefs come from and the strategies to overcome them, I want to take a moment to truly understand what limiting beliefs are.
Our minds can be divided into our conscious mind and the subconscious mind. And this last one acts based on a series of beliefs. Which are repeated ideas that influence our thoughts, decisions, behavior, actions…
Our subconscious works like a computer. When we are first born it´s empty, it doesn´t contain any information. As we grow up it starts recording everything that happens to us.
Based on our experiences, our education, the place, and the conditions we grew up in, a set of beliefs is printed in our subconscious.
The strongest beliefs are recorded from the age of 0-15. And the interesting thing about the subconscious is that it acts first with the dominant desires that have been mixed with emotional feelings, (such as faith, fear, hope, hatred…).
And these core beliefs can be divided into 3 categories:
- Limiting beliefs about ourselves. We believe we can’t do something because we think we are missing something within ourselves to do so.
- About the world. We believe we can’t do something because no one else will allow us to.
- Limiting beliefs about life when we believe we can’t do something because it’s too difficult.
Another thing to have in mind about the subconscious is that it was not created to judge, analyze, or question. It simply acts based on the beliefs and orders it´s given without questioning.
Our beliefs control our lives like puppets with strings, except that unconsciously, we are the ones to create the strings.
The good news is that we can change them as we wish, but first, we have to become aware of them (more about that in a moment).
Did you know that 95% of your actions, feelings, thoughts, decisions… come from the subconscious?
This means that most of the time your brain works in autopilot mode. And it acts based on the set of beliefs printed on your subconscious.
But based on what kind of beliefs: positive or negative ones?
Unfortunately, most of the time our limiting beliefs are the ones to control our thoughts and decisions the most. But today you are going to learn exactly how to stop this.
How to overcome my self limiting beliefs
Identify your limiting beliefs
The key to breaking free from self-limiting beliefs is to identify them.
Pay attention to your inner dialogue and reflect on what you’re telling yourself.
Do you feel like you don’t deserve success? Do you think that you don’t have the skills or abilities necessary to make it happen? Does your fear of failure or success stop you from trying new things? Do you think you are unworthy of love or success or wealth (or all of the above)?
Once you recognize your self-limiting beliefs, you can start taking action to challenge them with positive thoughts.
One of the most powerful skills you can develop to identify your limiting beliefs is self-awareness.
Self awareness is a crucial life skill, that helps us understand ourselves and figure out our purpose in life.
Becoming more self-aware can also help you understand your wants, needs, and desires as well as your strengths and weaknesses.
Here is an in-depth article on the 10 most powerful activities to boost your self awareness you should check out!
Developing your self awareness to identify your limiting beliefs will also help you to:
- Recognize that it´s actually actively disempowering us.
- Recognize whether it´s based on reality.
Another method you can use to identify your self limiting beliefs is journaling.
You could journal by simply writing your thoughts at the moment. Or writing about specific events in the past that have influenced you for example.
Personally, I find it harder to write my thoughts on paper, so I instead use journaling prompts as a way to reflect.
Another widely used journaling method is called morning pages.
Morning pages are three pages of handwriting, done first thing in the morning.
During this exercise, consciousness and unconsciousness simply flow. It´s not a story and it doesn’t even have to make sense. It is about writing anything and everything that comes to your mind at that moment, kinda like a brain dump.
Here are other things to consider when identifying your limiting beliefs:
- What do you believe about yourself both good and negative?
- What habits do you view as healthy and unhealthy
- What are you dissatisfied with in your life?
- Do you believe you have the ability to change (your thoughts, habits, lifestyle, economic situation…)?
Trace the origin of the self limiting belief
In the previous tip, we saw the different ways you can identify your limiting beliefs. And in the next couple of tips I want to share with you what to do after you have identified them.
And one of those is tracing that self limiting belief to its roots.
Once you have identified a negative thought what I want you to do is trace its origins. Meaning what event in your life triggered that idea.
Although it is not always easy and you will have to dig deep into your past. But doing this step will make the process of neutralizing that belief easier, as you understand what caused it.
(Note: remember that most of your core beliefs are recorded during your childhood)
In some cases, it may be a specific moment that creates the belief.
In others, it may be a repetition of moments that recorded that idea in your subconscious.
For example, you have a bad relationship with money because when you were younger your father always said during dinner time that rich people are bad.
Your father repeating that idea once may not be harmful. But the fact he repeated it so much created that core belief you have now.
Overcome your self limiting beliefs by replacing them with empowering affirmations
Affirmations are a very powerful tool to overcome your self limiting beliefs.
Affirmations are sentences used to reprogram our subconscious mind. They can also be used to make us believe certain things about ourselves and the world or environment surrounding us.
With the repetition of this method, you can voluntarily create thought habits in your subconscious that favor your efforts to create the life of your dreams.
The tricky part of this method is that it´s not enough with reading these motivational sentences. Because for a thought to record in the subconscious, it MUST be accompanied by a strong emotion.
This means that when we read our affirmations out loud, we need to combine them with a feeling.
Don´t worry, this is fairly easy to do. You simply have to read your affirmations and think about the emotions they evoke in you.
Let yourself be carried away by these feelings, by how they make you feel, how do they influence your life.
Now you can choose to create your own affirmations or choose ones that adapt to you and your goals. (In the list of most common self limiting beliefs you will find a couple of affirmations to help you reframe those negative thoughts!)
Another great tool you can use that I highly recommend (and love) is using affirmations cards, like these ones.
Affirmations cards are a great way to practice this mindset shift in a way that is simple, fun, and easy.
There are several ways in which you can use them, but my favorite is choosing one new affirmation every week and placing it in my workspace (a.k.a. where I spend the majority of my day).
That way it´s in a place that is visible and where I can remind myself to repeat and internalize that affirmation during that week.
Whatever you choose it´s essential to have these 3 things in mind when it comes to affirmations:
- It has to be empowering. Your affirmations have to make you feel empowered and motivated every time you read them.
- Realistic and attainable. Saying an affirmation over and over again is not going to serve you if it´s not realistic for you. For example, if you have a fear of speaking in public, using the affirmation “I am an award-winning Ted- Talker” might be a stretch. Even though this doesn’t mean that you cant achieve this I recommend starting with smaller steps like “I share my voice to empower myself and others”.
- Believable and challenging. You need to believe your affirmations whenever you read. It´s the most important step in the whole process.
Don’t waste your time with mantras that are unbelievable. Find alternatives that are reasonable yet still challenge your self limiting beliefs.
For example, if you find it hard to believe the affirmation “I am a millionaire”, try instead “I am allowing money to flow to me and releasing my money blocks”. Instead of saying “I am stress free” you could say “I am open to the possibility of a life without stress”.
If saying “I can achieve anything” is too difficult, try “I trust my ability to accomplish the things I set my mind to” instead.
Practice, practice, and practice.
And lastly, the important thing to have in mind is to practice, practice, and practice.
The truth is that there is no quick or easy way to overcome your limiting beliefs. This process is not like turning on and off a switch.
It will require practice, repetition, and for you to trust in the process. You will have to question your limiting beliefs, even when you think you have already neutralized them.
But the important thing to remember is to keep going. Like in any path to success, you will have setbacks and stones in your path. But this doesn’t mean that you should quit altogether.
Have your goals clear, remind yourself of why you are doing this, and never give up, your future self is counting on you!
Most common self limiting beliefs examples and how to overcome them
Now that we understand what self limiting beliefs are and what strategies we can use to overcome them, I want to share with you this list of common limiting beliefs examples.
Next to each negative thought, you will also find a couple of empowering affirmations you can use to neutralize these ideas that your inner voice is telling you.
Self limiting belief #1. I am a failure
We have gotten into the habit of undervaluing ourselves in everything we do. We define ourselves by only one thing. I’m a failure, I’m lazy, I’m a mess…
But the truth is that we are too multifaceted and complex to define ourselves with just one adjective. If we fail at something it doesn’t mean that we are a failure in all areas of our life.
It’s essential to work on your mindset and start seeing failures as the beginning and the middle, but never a determining end.
Affirmations to combat this belief:
- I accept my setbacks as lessons, not failures.
- I am turning into someone who pushes through failure and keeps on going until I’ve succeeded
- I can never fail, everything I go through contributes to me being better.
- I reframe my struggles as valuable lessons
#2 I am not enough
Closely related to the previous mistake of undervaluing ourselves, we often believe we are never enough.
Not for a relationship and for someone to love us, not for that job offer that makes our hearts turn, not for that business opportunity, not for success, not to be ourselves.
But you are unique and quirky and you have your flaws and imperfections like everyone else in the world. And that is not something to be ashamed of. Or something you should hide behind a wall.
Affirmations to reframe this belief:
- I am safe to be authentically myself. I am worthy and I am enough.
- I am whole and complete as I am now.
- I am not perfect, but I’m working to be better.
- You already have within you what it takes to turn your dreams into reality
Limiting beliefs examples #3. I am too old/ It´s too late
Too late for what?
- The oldest university graduate Shigemi Hirata, was 96 years and 200 days old.
- Yuichiro Miura is the oldest person to climb Mount Everest at the age of 80.
- Oscar Swahn is the oldest person at 72 years and 281 days to compete in the Olympics.
And before you think well they were “special”. No, they weren’t. The only difference between you and them was their passion, drive, and their belief in themselves.
How to reframe this thought:
- You are never too old, and it’s never too late.
- I´m capable of creating the life for myself that I dream of
- I am capable of achieving miraculous things in life, regardless of my age
#4 I don’t have what it takes
This often masks a fear of failure or even success. We look at others and think “I couldn’t do that. I don’t have what it takes”.
But who determines you don’t? Who says you are not capable of achieving greatness?
We ruin our potential by thinking we “don’t have what it takes”. We let life’s opportunities pass us by because we believe that the fall if we don’t succeed, will be painful.
But you can’t expect to win if you don’t play the game. You won’t lose, but you won’t have a chance to win either.
Positive affirmations to reframe this belief:
- I have the ability to turn my dreams into reality. I’m capable of anything and no dream is too big for me.
- My ability to conquer challenges is limitless. My potential to succeed is infinite.
- I am confident in my ability to succeed and prosper.
Self liming beliefs examples. I don’t have time
We all have given this excuse at some point in our lives. And sure we all have busy schedules filled with tasks and obligations.
And even though the concept of time is real, how you perceive it is a social construct. You might think you don’t have time.
But once you keep track of it, you will realize how much you waste on activities that don’t add value to your life or help you move towards your goals.
You are in charge of your time and eliminate the activities that don’t make you make happy and start making time for the things that do.
But the truth is that if it truly mattered to you, you would make time for it. No matter how harsh it may sound or how much it can hurt you, it’s the truth.
If you truly cared about that dream, if you were serious about achieving something, you would find the time to do it.
How to reframe this belief: Instead of saying I don’t have time, say it’s not a priority and see how that feels.
Related article:
Final thoughts
To recap, limiting beliefs are recorded ideas in your subconscious that limit your potential and influence your actions, thoughts, and emotions.
In this article, we say 4 strategies to help you bust your self limiting beliefs. The first one is to become aware of your thoughts to be able to identify those negative beliefs.
You could do this by developing your self awareness, or journaling (journal prompts, morning pages, etc.) for example.
After you have identified your limiting beliefs, you should always try to retrace the origin of this thought. Meaning the moment (or moments) that recorded this idea in your subconscious.
Doing this will make the process of neutralizing that negative thought much easier.
The third technique we saw was turning your limiting beliefs into empowering affirmations. You can choose to create yours, or select ones from the internet by for example using affirmations cards like these incredible ones.
But no matter what you choose remember to use affirmations that are realistic, believable, and empowering.
And finally remember that this is a trial and error process so it´s important that you practice, and practice, and overall don´t give up!
And that was all for today my friend. If you made it to the end of the article, thank you so much for investing your time in it.
I hope the tips, tools, and resources will help you bust your self limiting beliefs to unlock your true potential and become the best version of yourself.
Remember that are worthy of even your deepest and wildest desires!
Now I want to hear about you. What did you think of these tips to overcome your self limiting beliefs? I´d love to read you in the comments!
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