“I don’t have any experience”, “I’m not prepared”, “I won't be able to do that” and “I’m too old or too young for that” are examples of self-limiting beliefs that are toxic. Self-limiting beliefs limit us from gaining achievement in our careers and lives. But what are self-limiting beliefs? They are negative self-perceptions that live in our conscious and subconscious mind in past experiences, judgments by others, values and opinions of our family and friends, and even updates from social media.
Limiting beliefs are our comfort zone. They can greatly limit progress and success in our aims, both personally and professionally. It is these thoughts, whether conscious or unconscious, that we regard as simple truths. However, these negative thoughts, which control our journey towards life goals, can be overcome and replaced with more positive notes. By shifting your thinking, you can change everything too.
If you have beliefs that are keeping you behind, now is the time to mark them head-on. Stop letting them fester while keeping you up at night and stopping you from taking action toward your purpose in life.
Below is a method that I use with clients to identify, evaluate, and eliminate self-limiting beliefs.
1. Understand and Identify one of your limiting beliefs
The first step to overcoming your limiting beliefs is in understanding what they are. If you fear there may be various limitations, then start with the most comprehensive one and then repeat this step with each limiting belief. Self-limiting beliefs lead to easily get rooted in our conscious and subconscious and are rarely questioned. Flip the book and assess the validity of the self-limiting belief that you are carrying with you. Are there facts to carry it or is it the thought or opinion of a friend, family member, or co-worker
2. Eliminate self-limiting beliefs
Once we know what they are and where they come from, the next step is to eliminate serious self-limiting beliefs that are getting in your way.
Acquire an Alternative Viewpoint - One way to overcome a negative belief is to think of an alternative. For example, I started to think, “I’m a good content writer” and stopped living on struggles interpreting literature given its limited efficacy in my current work. Replacing negative thoughts is a key action to hitting back self-limiting beliefs.
Constantly challenge your Self-Limiting Beliefs to overcome - Another tip to overcoming self-limiting beliefs is to deliberately challenge them instead of sitting back in fear. For me, it was to post my first blog and to resume blogging to prove to myself that my old idea was illogical. Constantly challenging your old beliefs will start to prove they are wrong and help you move on.
Recite Daily Mantra - Daily mantras or affirmations are another way to move past your self-limiting beliefs. Repeating a positive statement daily will help to reset your mind and take the offensive on your negative beliefs. Challenge the belief with an affirmation such as “I can do this", “I am powerful” and becoming your inspiration can boost you to persist.
3. Keep Self-Limiting Beliefs Dormant: It takes consistent, deliberate effort to overcome self-limiting beliefs. That same sense of intentionality is needed to keep them going. Be sure to spend time recognizing and addressing old beliefs that come up as well as new ones to reduce future roadblocks to your progress.
In addition to the steps above, another highly useful way to identify and overcome your limiting beliefs is with the support of mentoring and coaching.
This approach has several techniques used in the search for individual advancement. Part of that process is the result of self-knowledge and motivation, learning and understanding from those with a sense of success.
When you realize that you can improve your life through your beliefs, you will discover that you can remove toxic thoughts that earlier prevented you from reaching your goals. When a coach or mentor begins to focus on your skills and how they can grow, you will be inspired to eliminate limiting beliefs and achieve your goals.
I hope you found this post valuable and I encourage you to share this process with people nearby to you to help them improve their beliefs. Lastly, when you see people around you achieving and living by your new belief, praise them because even if you aren’t quite there yet, it’s reaffirming what you want is possible!
Do comment in what all ways you can see meaning to your life and don’t forget to share it and follow me on Instagram & Facebook - @relivewithsangeeta & ReLive-Because You Matter
Happy Reading!
