Have you ever heard of the phrase limiting beliefs but you don’t really know what it means? Recognising and overcoming limiting beliefs can be liberating and greatly improve your health and wellbeing mentally, physically and spiritually.
What is a Limiting Belief?
A limiting belief is an idea or perspective you have created from your previous experiences. From these experiences, you internalise the fear and anxiety surrounding them.
Therefore, these internal beliefs can control our behaviour, our thoughts, and our decisions in a very powerful way. Even if it is not true, you believe it to be true and this truth influences everything you do and think.
Limiting beliefs also affect the way our unconscious filters and stores information. Every very experience you have is stored in a way that supports these negative beliefs. Therefore, reinforcing their false truth.
Other people can also force their beliefs onto you. You can absorb the negative things they say and therefore, are stored unconsciously and empower your limiting beliefs.
Here are some examples of limiting beliefs:
- I am not smart enough/pretty enough/good enough for XYZ…
- My friends see me as a boring person
- I will never be rich
- People will be disappointed by me
- I do not have enough confidence to be able to do what I want
- I am expected to do a certain thing in life
- People will treat me differently if I do what I want for me
Every decision we make is affected by our limiting beliefs, especially the big ones. They hold you back and they can be especially negative and judgmental and if you don’t change them, life will stay the same.
This can be debilitating to life, opportunities and progress because we are so fearful or full of doubt. We believe we can’t do certain things, we believe we will never get to a certain place and so we never make it.
How Does a Limiting Belief Affect your Wellbeing?
Your mental health can be negatively impacted by these limiting beliefs. This is usually because these beliefs beat yourself down. This can lead to increased stress and even depression and anxiety.
Telling yourself you are not enough… How is this thought going to nurture your mind and your health?
These beliefs do not serve you positively and can stop you from getting into the right mindset for weight loss and growth. You might feel like you are not reaching your full potential and are not yourself.
Ultimately, these negative beliefs can then impact your whole being just from your mind. The mind-body connection is so strong that poor mental health can materialise as physical symptoms. Resulting in your health and wellbeing suffering.
Tips to Recognising and Overcoming Your Limiting Beliefs
Here are some top tips in recognising and overcoming your limiting beliefs so that you can move on in life, grow into your true self, and create optimal health and wellbeing.
1. Uncover Current Limiting Beliefs
To uncover your limiting beliefs, think of your current struggles, decisions you face and choices you have made most recently.
- What motivated you to make those choices?
- What were your doubts and fears?
- How do act around others?
- Do you tell yourself negative things often?
Make sure you recognise your current and relevant limiting beliefs in everyday life so that you can begin to work through them.
Sometimes, it can be difficult to recognise a limiting belief. Therefore, you need to try and be present and mindful of your thoughts as often as you can. This can reveal patterns and behaviours that you did not realise were from a false belief.
2. Inner strength
Often, you do not know your own strength.
So instead of limiting yourself and believing you cannot do something, or be someone, or you are not good enough; believe you can. Know that you have the strength within to do whatever you put your mind and nothing can hold you back.
Harnessing this resolve can give you motivation and mental strength to work through your limiting beliefs. This strength can improve your mental health and therefore, your physical and spiritual health and wellness also.
3. Focus
We want you to focus on yourself during this process so that you can push past your limitations completely.
Focus on the person you want to be, the challenges you need to overcome and how you can push past them. A clear, focused mind is strong and resilient.
This can help you to rewrite your limiting beliefs into positive thoughts that serve you better.
4. Core Motivation
Know the motivation as to why you want to change. Real desire and love for what you want and who you want to be is your fuel. There must be a reason as to why you are here, reading this.
If you didn’t want to change yourself, overcome a fear or change your life then limiting beliefs would not be a concern. Feed into your desire to grow, to progress and live a life you love.
You’re also here because you know that your mental health is affecting your wellbeing. This motivation to be well and at optimal health is how you will overcome limiting beliefs.
5. Acceptance and Understanding
When learning from your limiting beliefs and where they have come from, ensure you look on yourself with understanding. Sometimes we have feelings of hate or resentment towards ourselves and others because of the past.
Accept your experiences and know what you have really learnt from them. Understand the reasons why your limiting beliefs came from them, see how it affects your present and determine how you do not want it to affect your future.
Then you can understand a better way at overcoming limiting beliefs.
6. Blame and Accountability
This is something I have learnt from Tony Robbins.
You can blame everyone for the bad things but you have to blame them for the good too. Without your past, the people in it and the things you have suffered, you would not be the person you are today.
It is easy to blame other people for bad things and not take accountability yourself. Rather than blaming, be thankful for everything you have experienced.
How it has moulded and shaped you?
Once you have this understanding of the past, you can work for your future. This is where accountability is essential. You are responsible for the change you want to create, no one else.
Therefore, to improve your health and wellness, you have to take it into your own hands. With a holistic approach to health and wellness, you are responsible for working on your mental health to positively impact your whole being.
Break Down Your Limiting Beliefs
There are so many different beliefs we all have but we must get over them if we are to grow and progress. Use these tips and advice to identify why they hold you back and limit you from your full potential and fulfilment in life.
Break them down and overcome limiting beliefs little by little with constant work and dedication to yourself. See a new you unfold and experience everything life has to offer.