Last Updated on February 16, 2023 by Lori Geurin
Have you ever felt stuck in your life? Do you feel like there’s something missing or that no matter what you do, things don’t seem to change? I know how it feels because I’ve been there too. But the good news is that there’s a way to break free from this cycle and have the life of your dreams! A life that is free of the limiting beliefs that keep us from living our best.
All it takes is some knowledge and work on yourself. In this post, I’ll show you how to take control of your thoughts and feelings so that they become positive, empowering, and full of love. It doesn’t matter if you’re not confident yet–this will give you the tools necessary for success! So keep reading to learn how to let go of limiting beliefs today.
I’ll share with you how to start living on purpose instead of by default.
You might not have the life that you’ve dreamed of right now, but taking this first step in learning how these beliefs affect our lives is the first step to achieving the life you desire.
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Limiting Beliefs Video
Watch this video for 10 examples of limiting beliefs.
What Limiting Beliefs Are and How They Affect Your Life
They’re the seeds of doubt that you have planted inside yourself. They arise from your past and cause you to block out all sorts of opportunities in your life. You might have limiting beliefs because someone who was important to you when you were younger criticized you or said things like “you’ll never be anything” or “you don’t deserve anything good in life”.
Or it could be a result of something else entirely.
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It isn’t as important to know the root cause as it is to take action and eliminate these destructive thought patterns from your mindset for good.
They can include thoughts or feelings about yourself, other people, or situations that you interpret negatively. You might feel doubt, guilt, shame, or anxiety. These beliefs could also tie into things that you don’t have in your life and that you’re feeling a lack of.
They can be so subtle that they’re often undetected by the person who has them. Or they can be very blatant, causing you to go out of your way to avoid certain situations or to stay away from people.
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Examples of Limiting Beliefs
Believing something like “I’m not creative”. This could lead you to avoid opportunities where you feel the need to be creative, such as an art class or a job where you need to come up with creative solutions.
Or, believing “I’m not smart”. This could cause you to avoid chances for learning, such as not taking classes that are difficult or tasks at work that requires more thinking than usual.
Find out how to develop a growth mindset.
Start living on purpose insead of by default.
LoriGeurin.com
How limiting beliefs are created
They start when you make statements (inside or out loud) about what you’re capable of doing. If you say that you’re not creative, for example, it will enforce the belief and limit your creativity.
It was Albert Einstein who once said: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
Maybe it seems like negative self-beliefs can’t go away if they’re based on previous events in your life- but that’s not true! You can replace them with new, positive ones. This has the power to change the way you think about yourself and the world around you.
3 Steps for Getting Rid of Limiting Beliefs
1. Recognize Limiting Beliefs
How To Identify Thoughts That Are Holding You Back in Life
Now that you know what these beliefs look like, it’s time to learn how to identify them in your life.
The first step is to make a list of limiting thoughts that you might have about yourself. Here are some common ones:
- I’m not creative
- I can’t do anything right
- It doesn’t matter what I do because nothing ever changes
- I deserve bad things in my life because I’m a bad person
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2. Replace Limiting Beliefs
How To Put Positive Beliefs into Action
Now, once you’ve identified negative thought patterns within yourself, it’s time to replace them with new, positive ones! This will help you let go of old ideas that are holding you back and start living the way you want to.
For example, telling yourself:
- I’m creative
- It’s okay if I make mistakes because everyone does at some point in their life
- I can influence my life by making good choices
- I deserve good things in life
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3. Develop New Habits
Take away old habits and thought patterns and replace them with new habits. This will make sure those old thoughts don’t come back into play.
For example, limiting beliefs might have been curbing your ability to talk to intelligent people. Something like “I’m not smart enough” can hold you back from approaching people because you subconsciously believe that it’s impossible for you to do.
The best way to eliminate them is by creating new habits. If talking to people is an area where your thoughts are limiting your potential, you can develop the habit to walk over and start a conversation.
See how that works? Pretty cool, right?
Here are some concrete ways to build new habits (and eliminate negative thought patterns).
Related: How To Be A Better Listener: 10 Simple Tips To Improve Communication
Use Positive Affirmations
These can be seen as positive, supportive statements that you tell yourself when you need it most. For example, if I feel like I’ll never get what I want in life or I believe that others aren’t going to respect me and I don’t deserve it, I can say something like “I am worthy of success.”
This is not just going to make me feel better but will also help replace the idea that I’m not worthy of success.
Here’s a list of positive affirmations. Choose which ones suit your needs best and practice repeating them throughout the day.
For more info, you may want to read What You Say When You Talk To Yourself, one of my favorite books on the subject!
Set Goals
This is a simple and important step that can have a huge impact on your life. A young woman named Kate always wanted to be successful but held onto the limiting belief that she didn’t deserve success or wasn’t good enough.
When Kate really started setting goals for herself, eliminating beliefs that were holding her back, and replacing them with positive self-talk, her life started improving.
You can set goals by choosing what’s important to you and writing them in the present tense with as many details as possible.
Focus on only one or two goals at a time. Then, when you see that your goals are becoming daily habits, add new ones to the mix.
Visualization Exercises
A visualization exercise can be as simple as picturing the outcome of your goals. There are many ways to perform visualizations. Some people look at pictures of what they want, others imagine scenarios in their mind’s eye, and still, others sit quietly with their eyes closed.
When you picture these beliefs leaving your body or becoming insignificant, things will start happening in real life.
It might sound weird, but limiting beliefs are just our interpretation of reality which means they’re not concrete. They don’t really exist.
What exists is what we make of our reality.
Summary – Change Your Mindset. Improve Your Life.
Limiting beliefs can be tough to shake, but with the right strategies and a little self-reflection, you too can break free from these thoughts that are holding you back.
Have any tips or tricks on how to eliminate limiting beliefs? Share them below in the comments!
