Limiting beliefs. Well, first of all – what are they? Simply put, they are beliefs we have about ourselves that stop us or restrict us in some way. They’re negative self-perceptions that we’re sometimes aware of but more often are rooted in our subconscious. They are thoughts, convictions or opinions that become what we believe are the absolute truth. And they all too often limit us from believing what is possible for us, stop us from achieving our dreams and keep us from living our happiest life.
Limiting beliefs often come from our childhood experiences. Or from the role we played in our family system. They can also come from recent experiences or relationships. Those can be experiences or relationships with friends, people we work with, social media or just random things. But no matter the source, limiting beliefs can have incredible power over our success in life, the paths that we choose and how happy we are.
Let me give you an example. I’ve had a limiting belief for most of my life that I’m not good at math. Beyond 9th grade, I never made any attempt to better my skill set in math because my belief was that I wasn’t good at it, so what was the point. Whenever a math question or problem came up in my life, I would automatically feel some frustration because I would think to myself that this was a challenging roadblock because I’m not good at math.
One day I realized that this was not a truth. The reality is that in 9th grade I had a math teacher who embarrassed me. He thought I looked like Loretta Swit from “MASH” so one day in the hallway at school he called out to me from the other end of the hall “hey, Hot Lips”. I was embarrassed. I made every attempt after that to stay in the background in math class. I didn’t want to call attention to myself. And that experience became my perception that I wasn’t good at math. The truth is I’m good at math. But I spent many, many years with the belief that I was bad at it.
Did that totally change the trajectory of my life? Probably not, because I do believe my calling is in mentoring and coaching. But one thing that I have discovered about myself is that I love working with computers. A lot of computer jobs require a basis in math of some form. So, could I have been a software engineer or data analyst or programmer? 100%. But I never got the chance to explore that possibility because I had a limiting belief that I wasn’t good at math.
The good news is that since limiting beliefs are stories that we tell ourselves, we have incredible power. Because WE are the authors! We can change the story we’ve been telling ourselves. Our story does not have to be our reality. Isn’t that exciting? You have the power to live your unlimited potential. You have the capability to create a new story.
My encouragement for you today is to start changing your story. Start today to believe in your unlimited potential. Start today to believe that you’re deserving. Start looking at those stories that tell you what you aren’t or can’t be and ask yourself, is this true? When you change those negative stories and start living your true potential - THAT is when you truly come alive. What are your limiting beliefs? And what are you going to do today to change your story? I can’t wait to see you bloom into your true potential.