Limiting Beliefs - Access Your Full Potential In Life

We live in a world of differences. Limiting beliefs can play a large part in how we view those differences.

Our belief system is made up of neurological pathways which are embedded into our unconscious minds from years of repetitive exposure from people and events.

Most of our deep set beliefs are formed from the time we were born till we reach around 6yrs old. At this period of our lives we are relative sponges and absorb everyone, everything and every word we encounter. More are formed during key times and events in our lives.

Once we have formed these beliefs, we then use them to anchor our understanding of the world. Our beliefs form our perceptions on everything we encounter. Beliefs are the foundations of which we build our exceptions on.

Some beliefs are necessary, factual understandings such as if you touch something hot your going to feel pain. We've either been told this or experienced it ourselves so our conclusion is hot things equal pain.

Some beliefs however hinder our outlook on life. These limiting beliefs are what keep us closed off from certain experiences, situations and or people.

I want to take you through a process of how a limiting belief can be formed then repeated and validated in our lives and how this belief hinders the choices we make throughout our lives.

A child is told constantly as they grow up that they are stupid, dumb, cant do anything right. The child starts to feel a little nervous when they attempt things, sure that someone will yell at them and call them names. Their teachers ridicules them and their peers laugh at them.

They get to high school and cant seem to understand most of the work so they just give up, hell, what's the point, after all its not their fault their stupid. Their just there to eat their lunch now and hang out with their mates now.

They leave school and move from mundane job to mundane job living a life of bad relationships and unsatisfying work. Its their lot, that's what they deserve after all, what more should they expect.

They see an add for a job they would love to try so they send through an application even though they know they wont get it. They don't get it, there was someone more qualified than they were. Well, they expected nothing to come of it and they were right. Sometimes they wonder why they even bother.

They find a relationship with someone who really seems to love them, they can't see why someone would love them for who they are and they start to question the reasons the person is even with them. They are sure the other person is cheating on them, after all, they can do some much better.

Now, while all this is going on, its not our concious mind that is feeding us that crap about being dumb and stupid. Its our unconscious mind reliving everything we were told over and over again in the past. It doesn't matter that one of the teachers said she saw some potential in us, nor does it matter that our best friends are telling us how great we are.

Our beliefs have filtered out everything but the words, actions and occurrences that prove that deep seeded belief that we just arn't good enough.

The example I gave may seem harsh, however, parenting is far different today than it was say 30+ years ago. People would gasp at such a thing now. This example is pretty extreme, but is far from made up.

I am hoping that with this knowledge comes a change. That when people are more aware of the words they use both to themselves and to others, we start to see a more positive outlook for the world around us. If nothing else, I want it to make you think twice about things that you may feel are impossible for you and question if they realy are.

I wish for you a life of passion

Our unconscious creates filters, out of necessity because if we were to try and take in every piece of information around us our heads would likely explode.

These filters help us to process information which our unconscious then deletes, generalises and even distorts based on our current beliefs and past experience.

Our perceptions determine our results and if our unconscious is limiting our perception then it will automatically limit our results.

In this article I want to pass on a exercise that you can do to help to identify and uncover some of your limiting beliefs.

There are 3 categories that our beliefs will naturally fall into:

-Self limiting beliefs - I'm not good enough, I never have enough money, I keep falling for the wrong people

-Limiting beliefs about others - Men are cold and uncaring, rich people are up themselves, People just don't care enough

-Limiting beliefs about the world - People are cruel, money doesn't grow on trees, Love hurts

The 3 examples above are generic examples of beliefs that some people hold about Love, Money and the world in general.

Exercise in uncovering limiting beliefs:

I want you to grab a piece of paper and a pen. The written word is very powerful, this will give you a visual representation of your internal dialogue.

Now, think of a goal that you want to achieve but haven't been able to thus far. Write it at the top of your page. Now ask yourself the following questions. The key here is honesty, there is no right or wrong answer here so don't feel restricted in the way you answer these questions.

"What is stopping me from achieving this goal?"
"Why can't I overcome this challenge?" (what's the excuse)
"Where did this belief come from?"

My example:

My goal is to become more focused

- What's stopping me is my limiting belief that I have a short attention span
- I just accepted that is who I was and it wasn't my fault nor could I really do anything about it (my excuse)
- This belief came from a number of areas of my life, mainly through school where every report said that I was easily distracted and had a short attention span.

I could have kept thinking to myself that I was un-focused, however, I am determined to Live My Balanced Life and focus was part and parcel of what it is going to take to get there.

So this is a belief I am challenging to this day and these articles are part of the process I am using to rewrite my unconscious.

The goal here is to bring these things into your subconscious where you are able to question them and get rid of the excuses. We have choices, always we have choices, either in our actions or our emotions. Taking back the power of choice is an awesome experience and one I love to live daily.

Everything I do or don't do now is by conscious choice.

My hope is that you are able to see through the stigma of your past and find the blockages in your life that have held you back from truly living and loving each day.

In this article I wanted to cover the ways we can start re-writing your belief system to fit your goals.

Limiting beliefs fall into 3 classifications

Hopelessness - This is impossible (this goal cant be achieved by anyone)
Helplessness - I cant do it (I know it can be done I just cant do it)
Worthlessness - I don't deserve it (feeling you don't meet some requirement)

What I want you to do is use one of the beliefs that you identified from the previous article and see where this belief fits in.

Then take a look below at the action steps you can apply to each classification.

Hopelessness - Find proof that someone has achieved this goal before. If someone else can do it, then so can you.

Helplessness - Find out what it is you need in order to achieve this goal, is there a skill you need, some resource or tool that can help you work through it.

Worthlessness - ask yourself why you DO deserve this

Once we have identified our limiting beliefs, the path to overcoming them is much easier. When we see how certain thoughts can affect your achievements and outcomes, we can start making concious choices as to how to act rather than rely on our unconscious to re-act.

Making conscious choices also eliminates excuses. One of my favourite sayings is "Once you know better you do better". Its not exactly the case, but once you know better you have to make a choice, its not just a re-action any more.

Your environment will play a large part in your success or failure in changing your belief system. If you around people who don't support or encourage the changes you are making in your life you may find yourself pressured into becoming part of the group again and therefore lag back into those limiting beliefs.

I suggest that you start surrounding yourself with people who will encourage and enhance your journey into self discovery. Read books relating to people who are overcoming similar hurdles you are facing and take note of the ways they challenged and won their battles. Learn the things you need to learn in order for you to move forward, and always, always question the things that hold you back.

One other suggestion I have is to use affirmations in your daily life. Just like when we were children, our beliefs were built from years of repetitive exposure from others and the world around us. The way people spoke to us and about us. Affirmations are words repeated over and over again. When you attach emotions to these words they become even more powerful.

Affirmations also give your subconscious something to focus on. When you are telling yourself over and over again that you are becoming more and more focused your subconscious will start looking for ways to make this a reality.

For example. I always felt that I was easily distracted which is why I could never focus on anything long enough to see it through to the end. However, I now see this for what it is. An excuse and a cop out.

Before I start my day I sit down and focus on my affirmation. Its pretty simple really "I am becoming more and more focused with each task I complete". Now in order for me to make this truth, I have to complete the task, which builds more support and validation for my affirmation and my belief that I am capable of focusing.

How about money. Many of us have grown up being told that "money doesn't grow on trees" heck, I am guilty of this myself. An affirmation like "I am rich" is not one that sits well with me, so what I have preferred to use is "I am attracting money money money into my life easily and frequently". My subconscious will pick up on any money that comes in and turn it into the proof my unconscious needs to think a different way about money. If I find 5c while cleaning the house that's validation that I truly am attracting money.

I wont say that I am all over this beliefs thing like a guru, I am still learning to deal with some beliefs that elude me, however, I am at a point where I take full responsibility for my choices. I hold myself accountable and I am the only person who can change anything in my life.

I deeply hope this will be of some help to others. I truly believe that the more people are aware of the fact that are putting limitations on themselves, the sooner they bust them and start truly living instead of just existing.

This is the last article in this series of 'beliefs'. This last quote pretty much sums up this entire article in a few words.

I wish you a life filled with Passion

Instead of giving myself reasons why I can't, I give myself reasons why I can.
Wally Amos

We all see the world, other people and ourselves through a set of core beliefs. Its interesting to note that our core belief systems dictate how we perceive every part of our lives.

Once you understand the above statement, you start to question what your beliefs are and are they really the reason you aren't currently living your ideal lifestyle.

From birth to the age of 6yrs, our core belief system is being built based on our environment and the people and experiences we encounter at this crucial time of our lives.

As a parent we have the biggest influence in the lives of our children. Therefore it is our responsibility, up to a point I may add, to ensure that we do the best we can with what we know.

As the saying goes, when we know better we do better. If you were to think back on how you may have been treated or spoken too by others as a child, are you able to see some connection between that and your current situation.

I have done a lot of growing in the last 10yrs. Some of which has been a slap in the face with regards to my own behaviour and how this has manifested in my children. However, I take full responsibility for my part in their upbringing, and from here, now I know better, I have a responsibility to act better.

One of the tools that has helped me to identify and overcome my limiting beliefs is by a fantastic lady by the name of Aine Belton. Her Belief Busters Kit has been a great tool in my life of growing and has helped me to really understand what beliefs are, how to identify them and how to overcome them. She also ensures you have the tools to strengthen those new beliefs that you have started to ensure success in the changes you make.

She incorporates a wonderful 20 minute meditation that is relaxing and calming (as is the purpose of most meditations) and is one of the highlights of the course. Aine is also offering a free insight in money beliefs which I suggest you take a look at. It gives you a very brief overview of the full course really but also helps you identify some limiting beliefs with regards to money and beliefs as well as a 6 part free mini course which is emailed out to you over a couple of weeks.

There are also a number of bonuses that she offers with her course which in themselves are a great asset.

You can sign up here for your free 6 part mini course and your free E book as well as the full Belief Busters Kit.