What are Limiting Beliefs and How do You Get Rid of Them?

What are limiting beliefs?

Limiting beliefs are things you think about yourself, your relationships with others, or life and the world in general that result in you holding back, playing small, being self-critical, and / or not living up to your full potential. The problem with these beliefs is that when you don’t realize they are there, or you don’t challenge them, they become the catalyst for the results you get in your life. For example, if you believe you will never have your dream job…guess what you will never have? If you believe you will never be able to lose weight…you will continue to act in a way that prohibits you from losing weight. If you believe you are not worthy of a great, romantic relationship, you will never have a great, romantic relationship.

As I so often reinforce in my coaching, your thoughts create your feelings. Your feelings impact your actions which then create the results you get in your life. If you want different results in your life, you need different thoughts. Carrying around limiting beliefs will keep you from realizing all that is possible for you in your life.

Where do your limiting beliefs come from?

Your limiting beliefs can come from a variety of different sources and can date back to early childhood. Messages that you received from influential people in your life stick with you and often play ongoing in your subconscious mind. If you are not intentional about examining them, they can limit what you have in your life without you even being aware. Some of the sources of these messages are parents, siblings, other family, friends, educators, bosses, co-workers, the media, and what you tell yourself about your past experiences.

You may have been told that you don’t have a certain skill set. You may have done poorly at sports in elementary school and told yourself you are not athletic. You may have been given messages about how much money you will earn. You may have been given messages that relationships don’t last forever.

These are all thoughts that you can carry with you into your adult life without even fully realizing them. The problem is, even though you don’t recognize them, they are impacting your feelings, your behavior, and the results you get in your life. They will have you looking through a lens that has you finding evidence to support them so that you stay in your comfort zone and don’t take risks.

Some examples of limiting beliefs are thoughts about:

Success and money.

• People won’t like me if I become more successful than they are.
• People like me should not want to have a lot of money.
• I never have enough money.
• Nobody will want what I have to offer.
• I am not worthy of being wealthy.

Health and weight.

• I am not meant to be thin.
• I will never feel confident in my body.
• I can’t lose weight.
• This is as healthy as I will ever be.
• I won’t have fun if I try to be healthy.

Relationships.

• I don’t know how to have a truly happy relationship.
• I will never be able to move on.
• There are no good partners out there.
• Everyone cheats.
• I always mess relationships up.

Overall life fulfillment and success.

• There is never enough time.
• I don’t have enough qualifications.
• This is as good as it gets.
• Others are waiting for me to fail.
• I am not the kind of person who does that.
• It’s easier for other people than it is for me.

How to start to address your limiting beliefs.

The good news is that you don’t need to believe your false thoughts! Here are some steps you can take to start to change them.

• Figure out what your limiting beliefs are. Grab a pen and paper and put some thought into these questions. What are the things you tell yourself about yourself? What words do you use to describe yourself? What are some things you wish were different in your life? What do you tell yourself about why they are not the way you wish they were?

• Review your list and ask yourself if all of what you wrote is serving you. Are those thoughts working for you, or against you? Write a check mark next to anything you wrote that you think may not be serving you (even if you believe it to be true).

• Ask yourself, “would a panel of people agree with me 100% about the beliefs that I checked off?”. Could they be proven true in a court of law?

• Create alternative thoughts and then find evidence to support them. Remember, your brain will look through the lens you allow it to look through. If you allow it to continue to look through the lens of your limiting beliefs, you will get results in your life that support those limiting beliefs. However, if you create new thoughts that would help you feel and act like someone who gets those results, you will change your life. Your brain will start to find more and more evidence to support your new thinking patters and you will get more and more of what you are wanting in your life.

Take some time and go through these questions. If you want to take a deeper dive, get my Free 9 Steps to Overcoming Your Limiting Beliefs Guide HERE. Keep your new thoughts top of mind and be intentional about them. You’ve got this!

Live your best boss lady life.

 ~ Karen

Karen Vincent Solutions