Imagine that you want to learn to play the guitar.

You love music and have always dreamed of knowing how to play the guitar. But when I was a child I thought I didn’t know how to draw as well as my classmates.

So you grow up thinking that you have no artistic talent.

Then when you think about learning the guitar, that inner voice comes and says “I don’t have artistic talent. Better not even try. ”.

So you give up trying to learn because you think you will not succeed.

This is a limiting belief .

Limiting belief is something that you believe in and that limits you in some way.

Some examples:
• I’m not good at math so I can’t go to engineering school.
• I will never lose weight because I have no discipline to maintain my diet and exercise.
• I have to marry someone from the same religion as my family would not accept someone from another.
• I am not an electronics technician good enough to make money from it.
• I can get along if I change jobs.
• I cannot be a lawyer because my family wants me to be a doctor.
• Women are only interested in men with a lot of money.
• I must work here as I would not be able to get a job anywhere else.
• I am not as good as they are at entering this dispute.
• I must stay in the wedding to keep up appearances.
• I cannot travel by plane as it is very dangerous.

Some classic ones:
• I don’t have the necessary qualifications.
• It’s too late.
• I do not know where to start.
• I already have too many responsibilities.
• Never worked before.
• I always arrive too late.
• I don’t have enough knowledge.
• I am very out of shape.
• Life is very complicated.

Limiting beliefs are a kind of excuse for not doing what you would really like to do. They keep us in our comfort and safety zone. This can greatly limit your personal development and achievement of your goals.

An important thing to realize is that these limiting beliefs are often things in our head that don’t really match reality. They exist only because you are telling yourself that that is a reality.

By changing your thinking, you can change too.

Feeding the belief that women are only interested in men with lots of money is just one way for you to make an excuse for yourself not to look for a woman. Obviously there are many women with men with little money out there.

Now try to remember the last time you wanted something and you didn’t get it. It was quite possibly a limiting belief that stopped you.

If you think about it, you will find that many of life’s difficulties and frustrations are derived from our limiting beliefs.

So if you want to achieve your goals, get rid of limiting beliefs that don’t make sense. Freeing ourselves from them, we make room to move forward on the path of life.

In my case, a limiting belief that I have is that I don’t think I’m good at graphic design. How then can I have a website? It’s simple. I find an alternative and find a way.

So when I need a design job (for example, creating a logo) I outsource the service. But for some time now I have risked a little more and when things are simpler, for example, editing an image, putting text in a photo or something, I have already taken more courage and go ahead and do it myself.

My own photos on my website are what I research, choose and make simple edits when necessary. I still have the belief that I’m not very good at this design issue, but I didn’t let that stand in the way of me creating my website and doing what I need to do.

Also note whether you use permanent affirmations. Saying something like “I’m not good enough” leaves no room for you to improve. You are telling yourself that it is not now and it will not be in the future.

That is, you are giving up right there. Instead of saying something like “I’m not there yet but I’m learning” it will take you much further.

Why Do We Have Limiting Beliefs?

There are different sources of limiting beliefs. Some examples:

Experiences
Let’s assume that you created a business that didn’t work. Perhaps from this experience there will be a limiting belief that you will not be able to create a new business that works because you have tried it once and it went wrong.

Wrong logic
It is often a matter of wrong logic. In the example above, it does not mean that the fact of the first business you tried went wrong that others will also go wrong.

As Thomas Edison would say, “I didn’t fail. I just tried 10,000 ways that don’t work . ”

Sorry
It may be that you really don’t want to go ahead. Then he keeps making excuses to himself. For example, you can say that they have no discipline to diet and lose weight. Deep down, you may not really want to get away from what you like to eat.

Fear
The fear is undoubtedly quite limiting. Let’s say you are afraid of flying by adopting the belief that flying is dangerous. In fact, it is known that airplanes are the safest form of transportation that exists. But that ends up not being the most important in the decision.

Social circle
Family, friends, colleagues and the people who are generally part of your daily life can be a source of limiting beliefs for you.

Let’s say that a colleague of yours relates an experience in which he got sick after eating sushi and that it happened because it is made with raw meat.

You can develop a limiting belief that eating sushi is bad for your health by preventing you from enjoying this cuisine.

Religion
Religion is famous for indoctrinating people by generating diverse limiting beliefs. They even have a specific term for it “sin”.

For an unassuming gay to hear from the priest of his Church that being gay is a sin, it can be a great limiter to assume his homosexuality.

Society
Standards of beauty is one of the examples of things that can become a limiting belief for people.

A beautiful young woman may find that she creates a belief that she will never get a boyfriend because she does not follow the standards of beauty adopted by society.

Belief vs Facts

Beliefs are not necessarily facts. There is often no correlation between belief and reality. That is where the opportunity lies.

If you believe it is too late, it may not be. This is your chance.

The limiting belief has no foundation. It is just a wrong belief. Getting rid of it is beneficial. Unlike facts. These are real and there is nothing you can do against them. The secret is knowing how to differentiate between the two.

Of course, eventually the belief may have a basis. Let’s say you believe that it is not possible to learn to speak English fluently in just one week. If you think that, I agree with you.

You can learn a few words, a few sentences. Even engage in a small dialogue. But fluently, it certainly will not succeed.

Or if you have the ambition to become a professional basketball player but are five feet tall, I would say that the chances are slim.

But it is still not impossible. Muggsy Bogues is proof of that. With only 1.60m he reached the NBA, the American professional basketball league [1]. Always remember what Nelson Mandela said, “It always seems impossible. Until it is done. ” .

But these are extreme cases. We often have limiting beliefs about things that are much closer to our achievement.

The secret lies in knowing how to differentiate what is simply a belief that can be overcome from what is a reality that cannot be changed.

Most of the things you want to achieve can be achieved. You just need to get out of your way.

How to Discover Your Limiting Beliefs?

To discover your limiting beliefs, think about something you would like to do and don’t do. Then look for the justification you find for not doing it. This justification is usually in the “why” of the sentence.

For example, let’s say you say “I can’t get a good job because I don’t have a college degree.”; “I cannot take the initiative because that is the man who must do it.”; “I can’t have a business because the economy is bad.”

How to Overcome Limiting Beliefs?

1) Identify one of your limiting beliefs

Think about what you would like to do and why you are not doing it. What is preventing it?

Take note of your limiting belief.

2) Recognize that it is just a belief

Recognize that your belief may be a belief that is not true.

3) Challenge your own belief.

Question your belief by raising questions like these:

• Is this belief really grounded? What are the supporting facts?
• Did I always think that way? If not, what has changed?
• Is there evidence against my belief?
• Do other people agree with this belief?
• What would it be like to think of exactly the opposite of that belief?
• Is this belief helping me to progress towards my goals?
• How would I think about this belief if I were someone else (Einstein, Steve Jobs, an entrepreneur, a doctor etc …)

Many of these questions may seem strange, but they help you to broaden your perspective on the subject. They exercise “outside the box” thinking.

When arguing against your own initial thinking you can often see that it is not quite what you were thinking leading you to change the paradigm to something more positive and encouraging :

“I know so and so that they have an excellent job and have no college degree. If he can, I can too. ”; “I have a friend who took the initiative in the relationship and is dating the guy to this day.”; “There are many companies that open businesses when the economy is bad and succeed.”

4) Realize the consequences

What are the consequences of holding on to your limiting belief? Holding on to the belief that you are not able to pass a public contest because you failed your first attempt can deprive you of passing in the future and having a better life.

5) Adopt a new belief

Choose something new to believe in. Something that will help to improve your life. This transition may not be easy.

Depending on how long you thought and lived what led you to believe what you believe, it may have created a very strong emotional bond and rooted the belief very strongly.

But if you want to go ahead and change you will need to have the strength and courage to make that change in thinking and adopt the new belief.

6) Put it into practice

Take action and start implementing things that support your new belief. Let’s say you had a limiting belief that said “I’m too old to start exercising” . After going through the previous steps you decided to adopt a new belief “It is never too late to start” . So today I go for a 15-minute walk to start exercising and create a habit from there.

Anyway, the most important thing is to understand that limiting beliefs make you live below your potential, but these beliefs can be changed. Reformatting your thinking can result in magnificent achievements for your life.