A limiting belief is a state of mind or belief about yourself that restricts you in some way. Everyone experiences limiting beliefs, but learning how to identify them can help you proactively prevent these beliefs from holding you back and preventing you from achieving your full potential. Here are some of the most common limiting beliefs people experience.
Personal limiting beliefs:
- I am not good enough
- I am not pretty or thin enough
- I am too old (or too young!)
- I am not smart enough
- I don’t have enough time
- I don’t have enough money
- No one will listen to me, or care about what I have to say
- I can’t be my real self or I’ll be judged
- I can’t ask for what I want because I may get rejected.
Workplace limiting beliefs include many of the personal beliefs, as well as beliefs such as:
- I don’t have enough experience
- I’ll never be successful
- I’m not talented enough
- I’m not a strong enough leader.
- How to identify and overcome them
Why it’s Important to Identify Limiting Beliefs
Limiting beliefs can imprison you in a negative state of mind, prevent you from recognizing new opportunities and life experiences, and play havoc with your mental health. That’s why it’s so important to not only work on your self-awareness and self-esteem but also to recognize unconscious biases. You can identify these beliefs by journaling, writing down your thoughts and feelings, and reviewing them to see if you can pinpoint areas where you lack self-confidence.
Overcoming Limiting Beliefs
Once you’ve recognized your limiting beliefs, you can start working to overcome them. Accept that even if you don’t want to hold on to the beliefs, your subconscious has a reason for doing so. Acknowledge your desire to overcome the beliefs, and, each morning, practice taking these three steps.
- Acknowledge that you hold limiting beliefs and that a part of you has reason to hold onto them.
- Identify a specific belief to watch for that day.
- When you find yourself practicing the belief, recognize it and challenge it.
For example, ask yourself if the belief is justified. Are you really too fat or too thin, or is it just your perception? What facts can you identify that support your belief? How does the belief impact your actions? What would your actions be if you believed the opposite? If you were looking at yourself from someone else’s shoes, would you still see yourself the same way?
Answering these questions provides you with a new perspective on the subject and exercises your “out of the box” thinking abilities.
How This Impacts your Health and Wellbeing
Overcoming your limiting beliefs has a remarkable impact on your physical and mental health and wellbeing. While they hold sway over you, your beliefs affect your actions and cause you to miss out on many things you want in life. They influence your relationships, your career success, your financial management capabilities, and even your leisure activities by preventing you from setting and achieving your goals.
Using Affirmations for Better Health
Affirmations are positive statements that help you overcome negative, limiting, and self-sabotaging thoughts. The best way to use affirmations to clear up limiting beliefs you may have is to find affirmations that resonate with you and help you release negative thoughts.
Develop statements that directly counter each of the limiting beliefs you identified. Practice saying them aloud and see how they make you feel. When you find the ones that work best, write them on notes and paste them in places where you will see them every day. Your bathroom mirror, your refrigerator, and the dashboard of your car are good locations to start with.
Positive affirmations also help to boost mental and physical health and wellness and to promote healing. They can help with changing and creating habits related to healthy eating and exercise.
A Fresh Start
Give yourself a fresh start and a new purpose by taking a stand to rid yourself of limiting beliefs. Create affirmations that support a vibrant, healthy outlook and lifestyle, and use them to achieve positive change.
For more information on how to improve your health and wellness, please check out my Bemer blog.