🧠 Seeing Limiting Beliefs In A New Light

Could the limiting beliefs stepping stones to our true selves?

I don’t have the skills!

I don’t have a degree, so I’m not a “real” designer!

Success is for other people!

These are the words I used to sabotage myself.

These were just a few of my limiting beliefs, and I believed they were my truth, my reality.

These words triggered fear, doubt, impostor syndrome, and uncertainty in my thoughts and actions.

These words hurt me both inside and out and brought suffering in both my career and life.

These words kept me playing small and kept me locked into my comfort zone.

But...

I did find a way out,

a way forward,

a way past the fear, doubt, and negative thoughts.

The negative thoughts, the limiting beliefs, and the suffering all begin with the mind.

I realized that I never stopped to question my limiting beliefs.

I believed them at face value and gave them free rein of my mind.

But...

Now I know better.

Now I know to question those thoughts,

Now I know to challenge the limiting beliefs as soon as they come up.

Now when a thought like, “I don’t have the skills!” comes up, I challenge it and question it to keep it from doing any damage.

Yes, there may be some truth to the limiting belief, so I can respond by saying, “I can learn!” because I can take a weakness and make it a strength by dedicating my time to learning about it.

So let's say you're going about your day, and a limiting belief pops up in one of your interactions at work.

The first thing you can do is question the limiting belief as soon as it comes up.

Don’t give it time to percolate and get off the hook so fast.

Quickly write it down to analyze it to see what is causing it.

Writing down these limiting beliefs is a great way to analyze them and question them.

Maybe there is some truth to the thought that “I don’t have the skills!” but I don’t need to consider it a fact.

I can always learn.

Our thoughts are not our future carved in stone.

Instead of looking at a limiting belief in a negative light, what if we saw it as a stepping stone to our better selves?

A way to reach our potential.

A path forward that is being illuminated by each limiting belief.

As we overcome the limiting belief, we become more of our true selves.

With each step, course correcting our journey.

With each step, fine-tune the direction we move in.

With each step feeling lighter and freer.

So the next time you come across a thought that limits you or constricts you in any way from where you want to go, notice it, analyze it, question it, address it, learn from it, and see it in a new light but using it to guide you forward to your full potential.

As always, reach out if you have a limiting belief and want to talk about it, or email me.

Cheers,
Rizwan