Overcoming Self-Limiting Beliefs and Shifting to Growth & Abundance Mindsets
Life is only as good as your mindset. Think about your past for only a moment. Has there ever been a time where you wish you would’ve done something but simply couldn’t get yourself to do it? Have you ever wished you could do something amazing in your life, but something inside you deemed it impossible? That’s the power of limiting beliefs. We all have and struggle with them, and they tell us that we can’t achieve our wildest dreams. Limiting beliefs stops us from living our best lives.
This has to stop. It’s the only way we’ll ever achieve greatness. But that’s easier said than done. How do we overcome our limiting beliefs?
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What Are Self-Limiting Beliefs?
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What Are Self-Limiting Beliefs?
Simply put, self-limiting beliefs are exactly as they sound: they are beliefs or ideas about one’s self that limit them from reaching their greatest potential. They are limitations that stop us from chasing our dreams and achieving the greatness that we long for. Before we discuss how to overcome these beliefs, it’s important to understand why we create these beliefs about ourselves in the first place.
You might be surprised to learn that these self-limiting beliefs were actually created in our subconscious minds with good intentions. That’s hard to believe, but let me explain.
Although the human race has become very advanced, we still carry our natural instincts from our ancestors. One instinct in particular that we carry is one that makes us always choose the “safer” option, regardless of the scenario. Take public speaking for example. Except for the rare few, most of us are terrified of public speaking. So what do we do in response to our fight or flight response to public speaking? To make the decision easier for us, our subconscious minds tell us that we simply aren’t good enough to do such a thing. Our minds tell us something like, “It’s okay, you don’t need to worry about public speaking. You’re not cut out for that anyway.” In essence, your mind rationalizes the situation to make you feel better about not doing something that frightens you . These beliefs are made with good intentions.
They would be great if you were stumbling upon a bear in the woods. “You should avoid the bear. You can’t fight it anyway” is something your subconscious mind would tell you. And it’s right for doing so. The problem? Your mind tells you the same thing when it comes to actions we should actually be taking versus avoiding or running away from. The goal here is to rewire your brain to encourage courageous yet logical actions. Here’s how to do it.
Start With Why
Before you can start to overcome your self-limiting beliefs, you must first begin with why. Think long and hard about why you’ve come to read this article and why you’re wanting to overcome your limiting beliefs. What goals are you setting out to accomplish? What dreams have you pushed to the side for far too long? You can write these down or keep a mental log, but having a strong ‘why’ in your arsenal will make the rest of the process much easier. Keep the end goal in mind.
Identify Your Self-Limiting Beliefs
This is possibly the hardest part, simply because it requires for you to be brutally honest with yourself. What self-limiting beliefs do you think you have? To make things easier, grab a pen and paper and write these down clearly. Some examples of self-limiting beliefs are:
I can’t talk in front of large crowds. I’m too awkward.
I can’t network and make new friends. I’m not interesting enough.
I can’t move to (insert your dream city/state). That’s too hard and I won’t last a second.
Etc. The list goes on and on.
Recognize the Falsehood of These Beliefs (and let them go)
The reason why these self-limiting beliefs are so powerful in our lives and stop us from chasing our dreams is because we give them so much weight. We begin to believe they’re true. Take a few moments to review your list of beliefs. If you really think about it, these beliefs are unjustified and hold no truth. Rather, our minds created these beliefs after a few bad experiences. Realize that these self-limiting beliefs simply aren’t true, and you’ll already begin to feel empowered. Then, let them go so that you can replace them with new and positive beliefs. Remember, your life is only as good as your mindset.
Replace Them With Empowering Beliefs
Now that you’ve realized your self-limiting beliefs and begin to let them go, it’s time to replace them with new and empowering ones. For this step, we will be using the power of “as if”. That is, go forward and act “as if” you can do things confidently, even if you haven’t done them yet.
Taking from a previous example, let’s just say you used to say, “I can’t network and make new friends”. Replace the “can’t” with “can” so that you’re now saying, “I can network and make new friends”. Going forward, proactively act and do “as if” you are already a successful and experienced networker. This will be hard at first, but as with anything in life, it gets easier with repetition. Use the evidence of your increased success as motivation. Soon enough and with some practice/development, you’ll no longer have to act as if. You’ll truly be a great networker (or public speaker, what have you).
Final Thoughts
Although the process of overcoming self-limiting beliefs requires you to “fake it ‘till you make it”, you must also take time to enhance your skills and knowledge. You can do this by reading books, attending seminars, finding mentors, etc. As you create more evidence of success, you’ll have more natural confidence as well. It does get easier.
Remember that you are not alone on this journey. We all want to live our best lives. We all have big dreams and aspirations, just as we all have self-limiting beliefs that hold us back. But success and happiness comes to those who seek it relentlessly. The best time to start was probably ten years ago. But the second best time to start is right now.
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