We are constantly making excuses for why we fail, and we refuse to try. This is called having limiting beliefs or denying full potential.
Thoughts are powerful and if you retain a strong wish or desire, over time it becomes reality. In other words, you become what you think. Say the word, the one which is aligned with your positive thoughts and watch the universe manifest your wishes.
Limiting beliefs work in much the opposite way, in that they hinder progress. You can speak negative or not at all, and this keeps you from reaching the highest level of success. It’s about blocking your manifestation of fulfillment.
There are Three Types of Limiting Beliefs to Consider.
Limiting beliefs deny the power that you would otherwise have if you just tried harder. These negative thoughts or absence of thoughts can be seen in various forms.
1. Limiting beliefs of social situations.
Social conventions can be bigoted, creating a negative image in your mind. They are brought upon by society to ensure the comfort of the masses. Some of the limiting beliefs include Pressure from the media on how to dress, eat or sleep, confirmation of biased opinions, marriage within your own race of social class, the importance of what people think, and also tradition.
2. Limiting beliefs on hard barriers.
Hard barriers are real barriers, not just a product of opinion. These include age limits set for career choices, height specifications for professional sports and academic levels required for certain positions or college requirements. These barriers can only be changed or adjusted by the authorities responsible for them.
As Randy Pausch said, “The walls are there for a reason. It shows how badly you want something.”
3. Personal limiting beliefs.
The thing that’s most intriguing about personal limitations is that they are built upon a combination of both hard barriers and social situations.
For example, a friend could warn you about applying for a job due to the fact that your education level makes you unqualified. The hard barriers are there, and the limiting beliefs say that you cannot find a loophole in the way it works, and the thing is, sometimes you can.
We Have to Get Rid of Those Limiting Beliefs.
As long as you believe that you are limited, you will always be just a step behind. Whether good or bad, these beliefs have a tremendous power over you. If you are negative, you won’t get that far, but if positive, there will be no limits to your accomplishments.
The best thing about limiting beliefs is that you can overcome them when you catch a glimpse of how it can be done.
1. Role models.
Finding someone who has been in your situation before, and is now much further down the road, will be the best motivation for change. Role models help you change your mindset and improve your self-esteem by showing themselves as an example.
These are needed qualities for improving your journey. Role models can be anyone from friends to historical figures, as long as they are positive individuals in your life.
2. Affirmation is key.
Work on changing negative thoughts into positive ones. Refrain from making excuses and use affirmations to transform your dreams into reality.
3. Imagine.
Before you can reach goals and live the dream, you must first see yourself doing this. Jim Carrey, before he was wildly successful, visualized himself as a successful actor. He spent hours fantasizing about his success. He did it and you can too!
But you don’t just have to sit about and daydream, you can also create a vision board for inspiration. A vision board is simply a representation of everything you want in the form of magazine cut-outs. Simply find images of your dreams and paste them together as a collage. When you see the board, it will both remind and inspire you to grow.
4. To see it, believe it first.
It’s about faith! When looking for a job, you must believe in yourself, know deep down inside that this job is yours. As thoughts are powerful, so they can cause manifestation. You must make the decision right now to be successful and then watch as things line up according to your affirmations.
5. Remove victim mentality.
I’m just going to be blunt. Remove victim mentality from your life – stop feeling sorry for yourself. You will get nothing done if you sit around and complain about what someone has done to you.
6. Embrace power.
It’s okay to fall in love with your new strong personality. Power is your friend, embrace everything about this and watch things change.
7. Sometimes you will fail.
Prepare yourself, you will fail and fail a whole bunch. But this shouldn’t stop you because it’s about fulfillment. Failing is just a way to show you what your boundaries are and to help you become resilient. Failing is just part of the learning process and you can easily rebound as long as you keep a good attitude. Just stay the course and everything will be just fine.
8. Cognitive dissonance could be a problem.
Not everyone will hold your same morals or viewpoints sacred. Someone somewhere will have a contrary belief that will challenge the way we see things. That’s why it’s important to look at yourself from an objective standpoint, removing all personal bias. This will free you from your ego and remove excuses.
9. Our closest friends are us.
Anytime you’re curious about where you are heading in life, just take a look at your closest friends. What are they doing? How successful do they seem? You should learn their weaknesses and strengths to help you understand your own future. Then believe in yourself because if they can make it, you can too.
10. Do something about it!
It’s time to take action. You must stop procrastinating and utilize what you’ve learned to make improvements. Start now, start today and tackle anything that’s in your way.
Eliminating our limiting beliefs may be the hardest thing to do, but it’s imperative in order to find out who we really are. Start small and before you know it, you will have killed limiting beliefs and created a whole new way of thinking.
H/T:http://www.pickthebrain.com/