Self-limiting beliefs

“Whether you think you can or you can’t, either way you’re right”

are the ones that have the greatest potential for impacting negatively upon you achieving your full potential.

We develop limiting beliefs to protect us from future pain.

Usually, they develop in our formative years in response to painful experiences.

They manifest as negative self-talk and can take various forms, such as “I’m not smart enough,” “I’ll never succeed,” or “I don’t deserve happiness”

Many of us have beliefs that are so deeply ingrained that we don’t even know they exist. To help uncover them, listen to the negative thoughts in the night or those that emerge as you debate taking on a new project, job, or just trying anything new.

What negative thoughts pass through your head, even for just a moment?

Those self-limiting beliefs are getting in your way and need to be squashed. Look for the justification you find for not achieving things. This justification is usually in the “why” of the sentence. It’s easier said than done, trying to unpick such limiting beliefs

Our beliefs are assumed truths. They are our inner statements about ourselves in which we are emotionally invested. They have shaped us and probably unbeknown to many of us they have been with us since childhood.

Picked up almost by osmosis from those who have had the greatest influence upon us in our formative years. Our beliefs are like a hidden undercurrent that has influenced much of who we are today.

While many of our beliefs about ourselves are formed as we grow up, we can reinforce these old self-limiting beliefs or develop new ones that hold us back in our lives and in our roles.

However, the good news is that conversely, it is also possible to let go of these old beliefs and develop new, more supportive ways of thinking and behaving that can, in turn, help to create a more positive narrative for ourselves.

Some of the following generalizations are examples that become deeply imbedded in our subconscious and then manifest as limiting beliefs that influence much of what we think are.

When we allow our lives to be shaped by these limiting beliefs, the behaviors that we adopt reinforce our own beliefs, so we become experts in creating our self-fulfilling prophecies.

To reinforce new, more affirming beliefs, ensure that you focus on your new actions and the positive outcomes (which come from them and use both these as evidence that your old beliefs were either incorrect or have now become outdated.

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