Self-Limiting Beliefs, You Didn’t Know You Had – Podcast Episode 6
Whether we realise it or not, we all have beliefs and some of these beliefs are limiting us from our full potential or from the life that we dream of.
Have you ever wondered why you cannot seem to achieve what you want or why you just can’t get started on something?
Do you find yourself listing out all the reasons and excuses that you can’t or that it would not work for you?
Have you ever considered that it might actually be YOU holding yourself back from achieving success or achieving your goals?
Limiting self-beliefs reveal themselves in our lives in different ways. Even if we think our beliefs are positive, a limiting belief can often stop us in our tracks.
It’s easy to blame situations or other people when we don’t reach our goals. Life can get in the way and we use this as an excuses as to why we couldn’t achieve what we wanted.
Just because you believe something, does not mean it is a fact. This is one of the most powerful statements that I have learnt. A belief is simply an idea that you have about something, you form a story around that and then it becomes a feeling. It is often a story that we have been telling ourselves throughout our lives and soon enough we believe it to be fact.
Often, we don’t even question the belief, we simply accept it as fact and most of the time, that is not the case.
Have a think about this..
If what you believe to be true has such a powerful influence on your results, imagine how amazing it could be if you had beliefs that supported and propelled you forward?
It is essential to become aware of your beliefs and question if they are serving you or not.
HERE ARE 5 SELF-LIMITING BELIEFS THAT I HAVE HAD IN THE PAST AND HOW I HAVE OVERCOME THEM.
1. I DON’T HAVE TIME
It is safe to say that most people get stuck with this belief, I know that I did for years. The truth is that we ALL have the same amount of time which is 24 hours in a day. Some of us are really successful the 24 hours a day we are gifted and some of us don’t achieve much as all.
Holding on to this belief can keep you stuck for years.
An interesting but challenging exercise, is to spend a few days recording the usage of your time. You will then know for a fact what you do with your time and be able to prioritise it in a way that serves you.
To do this, use a spreadsheet and record every 15 minutes or when you change activities, what you are doing. You need to be honest with yourself.
It is a very interesting and valuable exercise. You will see, what time you do have available, what time you waste and what tasks you are doing that are not of benefit.
The truth might be that you don’t want to or it is not a priority. That is different from not having time. That is ok, but own that truth.
I have come to realise the truth is that I have time for anything that I want to have time for.
2. I CAN’T BECAUSE I AM NOT…
Were you finishing this sentence in your head as you read the title?
I used to be full of I can’t because I am filling in the blank, beliefs. I am not fit, no one in my family is fit, I am a high school dropout, I am just a mum, I am too young, I am too old…. You name it. And it is all lies!
This is one of the most limiting beliefs you can imagine. As soon as your head starts thinking this, you are limiting your potential.
The more you repeat this statement, the more it becomes what you to believe is true.
I have used this many times in my life, but I have realised that when I impose one of these beliefs on myself, it is actually an excuse for me not taking responsibility. Anything is possible.
Having not finished school made me feel limited as to what I could do with my life. But with a few building blocks, which took time and action, I was able to gain entry into university to study law when I was in my thirties.
There were several I can’t because I am not’s, that I had to overcome, including;
- I am not smart enough;
- I am not educated enough;
- I am too old to worry about it now;
- I am not good enough to be a lawyer; and
- I am not able to stick at anything, I always drop out.
Boy, did that take some work to get over those limiting beliefs that I had built up over the course of my life.
I chose to prove myself wrong and I had to constantly check in with my self-limiting beliefs, question them, and reframe them. I believed I could become a lawyer, and I did.
3. I CAN’T, PEOPLE WILL JUDGE ME
Oh, this one is a huge one! I have always been someone who would say that I don’t care what other people think, but this is far from the truth because I struggle with limiting belief.
In the past when I have been scared of judgement, but I have gone ahead anyway, I have learnt that most people say that they are impressed and that they will be supportive.
I have realised that it is not my business to worry about what other people think of me or what I am doing in my life. Plus, I could be making up stories that are not true about what they think. This limiting belief is completely built on my own assumptions rather than the truth.
Truthfully, there may be a few people who are judgy pants, but those people are not your people anyway. They are not the people who you want to positively impact, it is not their dream, maybe they are jealous of your results or that they don’t have the courage to follow their own dreams.
I love Brene Brown’s quotes, she is my favorite. In relation to this topic, this quote of her is something that I think about all the time now and it helps me to propel forward, “If you are not in the arena getting your arse kicked, I am not interested in your feedback.”
If you want to create the life of your dreams, you cannot worry about judgement. Imagine being 100 years old and being regretful that you limited yourself based on what someone might think. When it is put into perspective, it seems crazy.
GETTING UNSTUCK
Identifying and acknowledging your self-limiting beliefs is the first step in taking back your own power and creating a life you love. It is not until we recognise the issues that we are able to make changes.
Blame and excuses can keep you stuck for years. It chips away at your self-esteem and you end up living in a responsive manner, instead of a proactive manner.
True, sustainable success is achieved from the inside out, by making the choice to work on your own belief system. Weeding out the limiting beliefs that are holding you back, will help you to create the life that you love.
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Listen in on the podcast this week where Caralee discusses how to break down limiting beliefs to add value to your life.
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