Are Limiting Beliefs Keeping You Stuck in Repetitive Cycles of Lack?
A limiting belief is an unconscious belief that keeps you stuck. Since you’re unaware of it, there’s nothing you can do to remove it until you become conscious of it and question it.
These thoughts are often deeply rooted in your mind, they become a filter of false beliefs and self-imposed limitations through which you interpret your experiences and determine what you’re capable of. They are essentially excess baggage from your past and can weigh heavy when trying to move forward in any specific area of your life.
Everyone has beliefs. We form them in childhood from our own interpretations, as we take in experiences connected to our parents, family, friends, media, and countless other influences.
They begin as facts. These facts shape the way we experience the world, and our emotions; the way we feel about the world. We use them to interpret our life events and it’s these interpretations that ultimately shape our beliefs into the truths we accept as facts – even when they’re not.
As we get older, these beliefs grow deeper and stronger until they influence every thought we have. These thoughts lead to feelings, which determine our actions. These actions can keep us stuck in repetitive cycles of constantly living out of reach of our dreams.
Limiting beliefs have good intentions.
Belief systems about ourselves and our world have a purpose: they are meant to protect us from some kind of perceived danger.
Here’s how it works: we have well-developed internal systems for managing the anxiety of everyday life. These defense mechanisms help us resist what feels threatening. They contribute to thoughts like, “I will be alone if I divorce.” Or, “I won’t get another job if I lose this one.” And while they do appear to keep us safe in the short term, they also make us believe things that may be untrue. These false beliefs are limitations that convince us that “many things are impossible for us to do” when, in fact, “they are completely possible for us to do!”
When we make choices – even unknowingly – based on these previously held beliefs, we set ourselves up for unintended long-term consequences. Our resulting behaviors are like self-fulfilling roadblocks that hold us back on reaching the life we most desire.
Limiting beliefs can have very serious consequences.
This is why it’s important to foster the self-awareness that can identify the belief systems which are not serving your best interest, and give you an understanding of how they are negatively impacting your life.
