You are here because you have realised that something, somehow, is holding you back from the life you really want and deserve. Do you get close to success and then find it all goes wrong, the job, relationship, fantastic house, seemingly for no reason? Or maybe you find that successful life is always dangling just out of reach? Are Limiting Beliefs holding you back?
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What do YOU want?
Is it general success in life, to be happy or even have a successful business that is work you love, that you are looking for? Perhaps it is that ideal partner but somehow the relationships so far inexplicably fail. Can this be caused by Limiting beliefs?
Limiting beliefs are often created in childhood from things we are told, taught and overhear. We are more emotionally susceptible to take in the experiences that we have in our early life than we are later in life. Though we can still form limiting beliefs as adults
It’s often said that children are like sponges, absorbing everything that they hear and see as well as things they are taught. Often they are playing quietly, seemingly absorbed but still take in what you are saying.
Children pick up so many things that become Core beliefs. All the good as well as the negative and bad stuff.
What is a Belief?
From Your Dictionary.
- the state of believing; conviction or acceptance that certain things are true or real
- faith, esp. religious faith
- trust or confidence: I have belief in his ability
- anything believed or accepted as true; esp., a creed, doctrine, or tenet
- an opinion; expectation; judgment: my belief is that he’ll come
And we learn this from Wikipeadia.
- Belief is the attitude that something is the case or true. In epistemology, philosophers use the term “belief” to refer to personal attitudes associated with true or false ideas and concepts. However, “belief” does not require active introspection and circumspection. For example, few ponder whether the sun will rise, just assume it will.
What are Core beliefs?
Wikipeadia says:
Basic beliefs (also commonly called foundational beliefs or core beliefs) are, under the epistemological view called foundationalism, the axioms of a belief system.
Categories of beliefs
Foundationalism holds that all beliefs must be justified in order to be believed. Beliefs therefore fall into two categories:
- Beliefs that are properly basic, in that they do not depend upon justification of other beliefs, but on something outside the realm of belief.
- Beliefs that derive from one or more basic beliefs, and therefore depend on the basic beliefs for their validity.
What do you think?
Does this make perfect sense to you. We have foundation or core beliefs that come from our surroundings (where we lived and how we lived) as well as from the people in our young lives. These give us the structure in our lives and a basis to grow into our world. Many are also in place to keep us safe (so our subconscious thinks) from people and situations, even the outside world. Unfortunately, they remain fixed firmly in place, long after the need for them is gone.
So those beliefs can hold us back
We can say lot’s of positive statements and recite mantras to our heart’s content believing that we will become successful and have that perfect lif we dream of. That we can reach our lofty goals if we just work harder and faster, that belief in ourselves will win and someday everything will be perfect.
Then we start to doubt and feel that we are not doing enough or doing something wrong or a chance remark makes us feel we are wasting our time. After all, there are plenty of others doing the same things and living that perfect life, aren’t there?
Are Core and Limiting Beliefs the same?
I believe that limiting beliefs are the core beliefs that some of them hold us back in life. Those core beliefs don’t change and grow with us, they don’t adjust as our world changes and we change from child to adult.
Think about how many young adults vote exactly the same way their parents and grandparents did. Many follow the same religion they are brought up in because it is instilled in them from a young age. It’s surprising that so few question any of these things.
Some will of course and some will be encouraged to be independent by parents or other authority figures in their lives and make their own minds up. That is unfortunately, rare though. Most parents bring up their children, more or less, the same way they were brought up.
From the blog Inc.com
- You have core beliefs that guide the decisions you make. They affect how you interpret the events in your life and they influence the way you think, feel, and behave.
- Your healthy beliefs serve you well. But, the unrealistic, self-limiting beliefs you hold onto–and everyone has some unhealthy beliefs–can hold you back from reaching your greatest potential.
- It’s important to acknowledge your core beliefs and examine which ones might be inaccurate and unproductive. Then, you can take steps to let go of the beliefs that are limiting your potential.
The unhealthy beliefs can be about yourself, others or the world but the main point is that usually, they come from someone else.
What makes them Limiting Beliefs?
They hold us up, keep us back in the slow lane, behind everyone else. And unfortunately, they sit in our subconscious running our lives in a way we don’t like.
From Changingminds.org
- Limiting beliefs are those that constrain us in some way. Just by believing in them, we don’t think, do or say the things they inhibit. And in doing so we impoverish our lives.
- We may have them about rights, duties, abilities, permissions and so on.
- Limiting beliefs are often about ourselves and our self identity. They may also be about other people and the world in general.
- Most of all, they limit us
Some Common Limiting Beliefs.
- I am too old/young
- I am not clever enough
- People like me don’t make big money
- I will fail and look stupid
- I don’t deserve success
- I can’t do that
- All the good people are taken
- I don’t have enough knowledge/don’t have enough education
Any of those sound familiar? Quite a few of those go under the most common Limiting belief. “I’m not good enough”. This one can of course affect you entire life in a myriad of ways, constantly holding you back.
There are also scarcity limiting beliefs. These can hold you back from reaching success as often you end up self sabotaging before you actually become successful, convinced you can’t or won’t be able to make a lot of money. The worst part is that you are unaware of it and can end up repeating the same cycle over and over.
Do You Want more out of life!
Do you? Have you tried over and over again to change your life, worked hard, 2 or even 3 jobs to try and get ahead?
Do you feel that something inexplicably stops you from having the life you want and feel you deserve? Do you occasionally wonder why success is always out of reach for you? Yet others seem to get all they want easily.
Do you want to do much more with your life?
There are so many limiting beliefs stored in your subconscious mind, that were originally there to keep you safe. That was fine when you were just a child but when you reach adulthood, they can prevent you from living the life you want. Stopping you from reaching goals, to never quite attaining the success you worked so hard for, to choice of life partner and so on.
Somehow things go wrong at the last minute or you actually self sabotage without realising it.
Conclusion
Limiting beliefs can hold you back in so many ways and can stop you from living a fulfilled and happy life.
It can affect the life partner you choose, the type of work you go for as well as your everyday
There are many people who start businesses, new jobs etc that always give up right before they start to do really well. Those around them tend to be baffled by it and wonder why. It’s not a deliberate attempt to sabotage themselves, it’s a subconscious move. If they become successful and then wealthy it will go against a long held limiting belief or even a set of beliefs.
The human potential is almost limitless, but having potential is not the same as actually doing something with it. It is there but many never fulfill even a small part of that potential because of limiting beliefs they have no idea they have.
So the answer to why are Limiting Beliefs bad is that they can affect every area of your life. They can affect the choices you make and ultimately affect your happiness, without you ever realising why.
Did I answer this question of, Are Limiting Beliefs holding you back?
Do you feel that something inexplicably stops you from having the life you want? Or do you wonder why success is always out of reach?
Do you want to do more with your life?
Maybe it’s time to get that life you want. Now that you know what’s holding you back, it’s time to take the steps to break free, to head for the exit and the freedom to be who you really are and live the life you were meant to lead.
The Power is within you! You have always had the power to become anything you want to be, you just have to realise that as a fact.
WHY?
Because it’s true!
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Did you enjoy this post and/or find it useful? If so, please share.
Questions and comments welcome.
I’m so thankful for you sharing this! A lot of people tend to hear about this stuff, but they don’t take it seriously. Limiting beliefs are real and they tend to not only limit what we’re capable of, but what we can do in service to the rest of the world. We have so much potential as people, but some people just can’t solve the inner matrix.
I also love how you actually explain what a belief. So simple, yet so powerful when it comes to creating change in one’s life.
I’ve had limiting beliefs for a long time and occasionally still experience some mental roadblocks. But I must say, the more I read what you have to say, it makes me feel like it’s possible to overcome them. I’m starting to see it’s all about perception and understanding.
Thanks again for sharing! You’ve helped so much.
Glad you found the post useful Rod. I think more and more people are realising the need for self development to help them move forwards not only in business but in their everyday lives.
We all have limiting beliefs of one sort or another but it is imperative we remove the ones that hold us back from living the best life we can.
We all have the power to change but we have to want to. Sadly, not everyone wants to change.
Thank you for visiting and your comments.
Hi Linda
Oh dear Beliefs, beliefs, self limiting beliefs!
I agree with you that they stem from childhood and so they are deeply ingrained in us. It is really difficult to budge them out of our lives especially if they are stopping us from self improvement and happiness.
Healthy beliefs can help us to achieve and manifest our dreams and wishes.
However, many of us are plagued by self limiting beliefs that stop us from so much joy and enjoyment.
I love your positive advice that we all have the Power within us.
Thank you
Best wishes
Sheen
We are taught that we are limited and powerless but the reality is we have limitless power. Each person has to discover this in their own way.
Once we start on the path of self discovery our lives change bit by bit, sometimes so gradually we don’t notice until we look back. Noticing that and understanding that we ourselves brought about the change is a big step towards understanding how much power we really have.
Thank you for your comments.
Such an important topic you have raised here. May people fear change because they don’t want to fail. But what they don’t realize is that it is ok to fail as its all a part of the change and growing and becoming better… the road to success. And yes the way we were brought up has a lot to do with these limits and should be unpacked and dealt with because life is very different to what it was 30 plus years ago.
Thank you for sharing.
I agree Janine, limiting beliefs definitely need to be dealt with, it’s recognising that you have them that is the hard part. It’s good that there is more discussion about them now so people can learn why they self sabotage at times.
Life is very different now, you don’t have to stay in a job you hate all your life, you can experiment and have several different careers. It’s so much better.
Thank you for reading and commenting.