What are Limiting Beliefs? Where do They Come From & How Can I Get Rid of Them?
What are Limiting Beliefs? Where Do They Come From & How Can I Get Rid Of Them?
“I’m too old.”
“Someone else will do it better than me.”
“I’m not good enough to…”
“I don’t have enough money, confidence, credentials…”
Have you ever noticed that not so subtle voice in your head, blaring out a million different sabotaging reasons why you can’t, should, shouldn’t, must do xyz?
It appears everywhere. From getting dressed, to choosing what to eat, to going travelling or making a big life decision. Big or small – it’s there, narrating what will be the best for you, like an overprotective, neurotic mom.
But Where Does This Internal Narrative Come From? Have You Ever Stopped To Question It?
Well, this voice is simply an old show reel of old beliefs that we have formed throughout our life in order to ‘keep us safe’ in the world.
You may have heard before that whatever you believe about yourself comes true. This is because your brain looks for evidence to reinforce the beliefs you hold, and it will usually find the evidence that it’s looking for.
It’s not often that people stop to question their beliefs. We tend to take them as a given.
But one of the vital first steps in making change is becoming aware of and understanding how yourbeliefs are holding you back from living fully.
Read on to find out more about what self-limiting beliefs are and, more importantly, the process of identifying and overcoming those stories.
What Are Self-Limiting Beliefs?
To put it simply, self-limiting beliefs are assumptions or perceptions that you've got about yourself and about the way the world works. These assumptions are “self-limiting” because, in some way, they're holding you back from living in harmony and achieving what you’re capable of.
That’s a quick overview, but let’s unpack the term a little more by examining each of its components, starting with what beliefs are and how they're formed.
How Your Beliefs Are Formed
From a very early age in childhood, we begin to form beliefs about the world and our place in it. Our brains are very good at spotting patterns and making associations, so we constantly process the stream of information about the world around us and use it to form beliefs. Generally, the purpose of belief formation is to help us understand the world and stay safe.
In early childhood, these beliefs are usually based on our own experiences and shaped by our parents or other dominant figures in our lives. If I hit someone, I get punished, so hitting people must be bad. If I say “please” and “thank you”, I get rewarded. So, being polite must be good.
As we get older, we start to form more complex beliefs and are able to draw on a much wider range of sources, such as books, movies, TV advertisements, social media and the behaviour of our friends, peers, and so on.
Nevertheless, the core beliefs that we formed as young children can be very powerful, and even when we encounter new information or explanations, we often cling to our old beliefs. Cue the saying: Like a dog with an old bone. We just don’t want to let go!
For example, a young girl with hard-working parents, who are often absent, may form the belief: “I’m not good enough for them to want to be with me.” Later, she may come to understand that her parents work hard for many reasons, including their love and desire to provide for her, but that early belief may be so deeply engrained that she continues to hold onto it. This continues into other relationships, where she attracts people who mirror back the same absence and so reaffirm her belief that she is unworthy, or unlovable.
Once we've formed a belief, we tend to look for more evidence to support it. This gives us an imaginary stable foundation for understanding the world to keep us from feeling pain, but it also means that beliefs can be tough to get rid of, even when they're holding us back.
Overcoming Limiting Beliefs - It's Easier Than You Think!
The way that you clear limiting beliefs is by recognizing them. Once you see the limiting belief and all the ways it sabotages your relationships to yourself and others, you no longer buy into them, and so they are no more! Ta da!
But first we need to see them…
Leave us your email below and we will share a powerful exercise with you as a tool, to clear limiting beliefs in any area of your life.
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