Have you heard about this? I’m likely the laggard amongst us all that is just now learning about this concept. But, just in case I am not alone, I wanted to share this in the hopes it will illuminate as much clarity for you as it did for me while I was pondering how to get myself “unstuck” in this life, yet again…
If you accept a limiting belief, then it will become a truth for you.
– Louise Hay
In a nutshell, limiting beliefs are the stories (and often downright lies) we tell ourselves, falsely feeling that they are keeping us safe from discomfort, but in reality prevent us from achieving dreams and desires we so deeply want or need.
Limiting beliefs are insidious. Some become so long-held that we might as well reference them as part of our DNA. Some we get from bearing witness to others traumas and pains, while most are given to us by those that surround us, especially in formative years or in those times we are especially vulnerable in life.
For these reasons, it can be difficult to spot them, know where and when they started, and therefore understand how they have had an impact on your life. But, limiting beliefs derive their power from silence, much like feelings of shame. By taking the time to focus and physically write out what your limiting beliefs may be, you will uncover their falsehoods, irrationalities, and contradictions. Once you can clearly see them for what they are – merely the stories and lies you’re telling yourself – you can better prepare for a life more fully lived and realized.
Of course, the hard part goes without saying: the real work comes after you’ve committed pen to paper about what they are. But, I would challenge anyone to look at the list they’ve written and complete a simple exercise: imagine them gone. Imagine the type of life you would live, the new depths of the good things you could allow yourself to feel, the distances you could cover, and the wins you could achieve, and perhaps most of all, the quality of person you’d be able to be in this world without these merciless weights, once your limiting beliefs were given the boot. I think you’ll find that in doing so, no matter how many false starts or bumps you face in your journey to eliminate these from your reality in the end, you’ll know in your gut what a worthwhile effort it will inevitably be.
Even so, starting to plumb the depths of your psyche to even determine your own limiting beliefs can intimidate and overwhelm. That said, perhaps you’re like me and share some of the ones I self-diagnosed below. Once you start to identify a few, I can almost guarantee that you will find more flowing forth from your pen in quick succession. And, while you may be disheartened to see a final number in the double digits, I encourage you to not focus on the number as a whole, but instead see it as a catharsis and don’t miss an opportunity to keep writing until the deed is done. Afterwards, congratulate yourself on taking a critical first step in reclaiming your power and, frankly, the future bliss you were meant to have.
LIMITING BELIEFS
1. Every stranger knows my past history of failures and all my insecurities upon meeting me, so I always need to posture and pretend to cover it up, no matter who that person even IS.
2. My feelings must always be qualified, justified, and explained to anyone who asks. They are open for debate and ridicule, no matter who’s on the opposing side of the conversation.
3. Protecting and caring for other people’s feelings and opinions of me are always worth more than my own integrity, identity, wants, needs, and dreams.
4. If a good thing comes to me without blood, sweat, and tears to achieve it, it is far less meaningful and important in quality and value or can simply be discounted.
5. I’m not smart enough to live the life I want, accomplish my dreams, achieve financial security, or find happiness.
6. It is a known and accepted fact that other people, regardless of how I feel about them, can define and rule over me every day.
7. Demanding respect from others is inappropriate without earning it first, on their terms.
8. It is not acceptable to change your mind once you’ve committed to something unless you have a reason that others will find acceptable, and that reason must always be explained to their liking.
9. Feelings should not be expressed in the moment. They may not be the “right” emotions to have based on the situation.
10. Everyone else has the power to absolutely destroy my life if they so choose to. I am powerless to stop this if it ever happens.
11. The only way to get ahead and achieve my goals is to become a consistent extrovert with a million connections across a million places.
12. It is not acceptable to have a different opinion than your boss. You must always do what you are told and pretend to be happy about it.
13. Other people have the “right” things figured out in life and do them all effortlessly. I have talents and aptitudes in things that are just “nice to have” but not “right”.
14. I am the only one who’s afraid all the time, or has fears at all.
15. Confrontations are best avoided because it’s always the other person who won’t handle it well or make things worse in the end.
16. My values, thoughts, and opinions are worth far less than someone else’s, so they are not worth sharing or standing up for.
17. The amount of love you should expect to receive is directly proportionate to how well you can make someone else happy, no matter the cost to yourself.
18. I am abnormal and weird for not having the same needs and wants as other people.
19. People only remember and/or know me through every mistake I have ever made.
20. People in positions of status, wealth, or achievement just have something I don’t and never will be able to have.
21. Convention and society govern and promote the right rules, and know the best way to live life. It should not be questioned.
22. I can only be the student and never the teacher because I will never reach adequate expertise in anything I do or try.
23. No matter what the circumstance, I must always have the right answer, all the time.
24. Even if I don’t like a person or feel like they can add anything to my life, their judgement and evaluation of me will always be more worthy and more accurate than my own.
25. I can’t assert or show how much I value myself because I don’t have the best or right or enough arguments to back up why.
theempiricalfiles.com 