What kind of limiting beliefs do you have that is keeping you from where you’d like to be or even who you really want to become? We can’t help who we are or what we think or feel and those things don’t change. If someone told you otherwise, you’d believe them because you’re programmed to believe what you’ve been taught. Limiting beliefs are usually unconscious thoughts, not intentionally holding you back from reaching your full potential or expressing your true self.
What kind of limiting beliefs do you have that’s keeping you from where you would like to be or who you really want to become? Childhood conditioning and programming are probably responsible for preventing us from experiencing our full potential or having the life we truly deserve. Childhood conditioning includes being afraid of heights, being fearful of water or fear of certain people. Programming comes from parents, society or other institutions that we grew up in. Whatever the cause of our limiting beliefs, you can do something about them by understanding and removing the limiting beliefs that you’ve held yourself over.
Self-awareness is the first step in challenging and eliminating limiting beliefs. You have to look within and ask yourself what kind of person you believe yourself to be. Take note of the answers to these questions. Then look at what your beliefs about yourself say about you. If you find yourself accepting or loving negative things about yourself, you need to stop those limiting beliefs right now.
One example of a limiting belief is, “I don’t deserve to get this great prize I’ve been dreaming about.” Here, you are saying to yourself that you are unworthy and that you are unable to acquire the prize. The cause of this belief could be that you grew up hearing messages telling you that you aren’t good enough, smart enough, nice enough or good enough to deserve anything. These messages caused you to have self-doubt that affected your self-image. You probably also had limiting beliefs about your physical appearance.
Another example of a limiting belief is, “All I really need is to feel secure and comfortable.” This belief says that all I really need is to stay comfortable and secure and nothing else will matter. It also says that I can’t be successful unless I have these things. In order to change these limiting beliefs, you have to understand the root causes of them. You have to take the time to examine your childhood and figure out the reasons that you grew up having these beliefs.
Once you have identified and examined your childhood beliefs, you need to start challenging them. One example of a limiting belief that you can replace with an empowering one is, “I am in charge of my mind and body.” By changing this limiting belief to, “I am in charge of how I think and feel,” you are starting to learn that you are in complete control of how you think and feel. You have the ability to change your mindset, your beliefs and your behavior. This empowerment is a wonderful way to improve your life.
Another way to change your limiting beliefs is to use positive affirmations. Using positive affirmations has been proven to help you overcome many types of negative feelings including, anger, self-doubt, sadness, guilt and negativity. Instead of focusing on the negative, you focus on the positive. Positive affirmations such as, “I am successful,” “I have a supportive partner,” “I have freedom” and “I am loving” can help you make positive changes in your thinking and behavior.
Limiting beliefs aren’t something you have to live with. You don’t have to continue to feel bad about yourself. Utilize the techniques I have mentioned above and create the life of your dreams by removing limiting beliefs and developing healthy, confident and happiness empowering beliefs.