YOUR Limiting Beliefs (and they are yours to keep, unless you decide not to!)

We already spoke about values and beliefs, and how they shape the foundations of who you are. They determine the way you perceive the world, how you react and what action you take, in order to achieve results. And we gave an extensive list of values where you can identify your highest ones, your top priorities in life.

When you look at beliefs, how much do we realise that we are surrounded by limiting beliefs, lurking behind every corner. Yes, we do occasionally recognise that we say words of self-discouragement: I'm going to botch up this presentation, I know it!

But how often do we say to ourselves those seemingly harmless, habitual phrases: "Silly me!"

"This will never work!"

"I'll never get this job!"

“I’ll never learn to cook.”

"I'm so clumsy, I'll probably break something!", 

or even "I'm gonna be late again!"

And these turn into self-fulfilling prophecies - you become unfailingly, chronically, late for every meeting. You always drop things; you never dare to have fun improvising and cook a meal. These formulas for failure block so much of your positive energy, of your potential!

I would go even further and claim that Limiting beliefs, and constantly imposing them on ourselves and others, are one of the unrecognised diseases of the 20th, and 21st centuries!

How often do you hear parents on the street yelling after their children: "Don't run, you'll trip! You'll fall down and break your head!" What a kind, caring, encouraging thing to say to your child, NOT!, over and over again...

Or: "You ain't good for nothing! You can't tie your own shoes."  And the list goes on and on.

What limiting beliefs do to your unconscious mind is to constantly build up a feeling of defeat, confirm your expectations for defeat, and ultimately they make you fit for defeat, instead of success.

Probably if I asked you right now to give me a list of your values, you would come up with three, four, or more ideas, straight away. But if I asked you: “What are your limiting beliefs?”, you wouldn’t have the answer off the top of your head.

So, here is my challenge for you: during the next three days, watch yourself, watch your language. What do you say to yourself – what everyday self-talks can you identify as limiting beliefs?

And if you want to take it up a notch, how about actually counting how many times you tell yourself things like, “I always lose stuff”, “I’m gonna be late again”, “I’m exhausted”, or thinking first thing in the morning: “I can’t be bothered to do any exercises TODAY.” Or when you get stuck with your report, or task, you repeat to yourself: “I can never finish these things on time.” 

See, those nasty little power -, confidence - and success - sabotagers are hiding everywhere!

SO, share your examples here. Maybe you will even come up with some original ideas of how to stop yourself from success… And the more you repeat them, the better you become in developing the skills to fulfill those beliefs.

What do we do next? The next step for you is to reframe these boycotting expressions, and instead of saying: “I’ll be late again!”, you will say: “Today is the first of those numerous occasions when I will be on time. Punctuality is my middle name.”

Or saying: “I can easily go up those three flights of stairs. I am becoming fitter and fitter every single day!”

How about that as a self-fulfilling prophecy!

Believe in yourself!